At Jackson Middle School on Thursday, students were building free-standing towers with marshmallows and gummy bears through a group exercise.
Each spring, most middle schools welcome fifth-graders to visit and take tours before they arrive for real in August. This time, Jackson sixth-graders were grouped with the younger kids in a more formal way.
"This is awesome," said sixth-grader Evan Jay. "We're working real good, and we're teaching them how to do the design process. It will give them a better chance to learn next year."
Jackson has received School Board approval for becoming a designated STEM school providing the integration of all subjects into Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs.
"Our sixth-graders didn't know what they were going to do today," said Jackson Principal Jason Holt. "This is a collaboration in which students have roles inside the group. They are given a problem and are asked to use a thinking process to fix that problem."
Holt credited the sixth-grade teachers for coming up with the event. The team-building will help add a culture component so that they get along with each other.
Sixth-grade science teacher Kishni Neville recalls how her students arrived at Jackson last fall, still finding their way. A few months later, they're mentors, letting the Redcliffe students begin to understand how STEM works.
"It's effective for these kids in seeing the way to build the thinking process and how they solve problems," Neville said. "It's rewarding to see it sink in."
The implementation of a STEM focus at Jackson is exciting, said Joy Shealy, the School District's middle school academic officer. The teachers can see how their students work in groups and what they can do from day one to help the rising sixth-graders be successful.
"They're building leadership skills with the (current) sixth-graders," Shealy said. "They will never forget that on this day, they were mentors. Hopefully, this will be one of the skills they can take from grade to grade."
In addition, Redcliffe students Aden Evans and Tywain Smith enjoyed the chance to work with the older kids on equal terms - seeking ways to find solutions with those marshmallows and gummy bears.
"I didn't know how sixth grade was going to work," Tywain said. "It looks like it's going to be fun."
Redcliffe has been exploring STEM approaches, too, said teacher Kathy Langston. The group process in problem-solving will give the children "the opportunity to fail and revise," she said. "They get to be here and work with the sixth-graders."
Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter and has been with the newspaper since September 2001. He is a native of Walterboro and majored in journalism at the University of Georgia.