Fayette County, WV (WOAY) – Students at Oak Hill High School are getting a college-level taste of science this week, thanks to a special program from WVU.
Newswatch Reporter Jonathan Schwitzerlette has the details.
“This week at Oak Hill High School, students are working with WVU Tech’s STEAM-TAC to get a unique hands-on learning opportunity with electronics.”
West Virginia University’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics Technical Assistance Center, or STEAM-TAC, is a program that works with 6th through 12th-grade students to get experience with real-world skills that could translate into careers. This week, they’re working with Oak Hill High School students to learn about something we all use every day.
Oak Hill High School teacher, Ashley Chouinard, explains just outside of her classroom:
“So, STEAM-TAC is here today teaching our kids about electricity. Super important because it’s good for the kids to know that these jobs exist in this area, that we have lots of electricians, lots of linemen, lots of electrical engineers. And these are jobs that the kids can have in the New River Gorge. They can come to county school, learn how to do that stuff here, and then get jobs right out of high school if they want, or they can go to college and then get jobs.”
STEAM-TAC’s immersive approach brings technical concepts to life. This week, electricity is demystified through snap circuits that the students can manipulate themselves.
Samantha Couch, a specialist from WVU STEAM-TAC, describes what she is teaching the class:
“These are very specialized lessons… We take the standards that the teachers have to teach, and we really, really concentrate those standards. And it’s a good thing to have us come in because the kids get to… manipulate and do all of the tactile learning, and it kind of deepens their knowledge of the subject.”
Once students master the fundamentals of electricity, they will then apply their knowledge to something almost out of this world.
“And then the second day, the students take that information and apply that to build the little Mars rover robots and see if they can race those robots.”
And the students welcome the break from traditional learning, seeing electrifying concepts come to life in ways they just don’t get from textbooks.
“I feel like this is just easier to understand because it’s actually hands-on,” said 9th-grade student Brooklyn Davis.
Her classmate, Presley Holly, added:
“I think a lot of us like these classes because we get to do stuff and not just sit there and write papers the whole time. And I like doing projects.”
Whether on Mars or here at home, Oak Hill students should feel inspired to tackle their next frontiers.
