Ahern Middle School Gets $19,000 STEM Grant From Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Seventh and eight grade students at Ahern Middle school will soon have a lot more options for electives — especially if they are interested in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science. The Foxborough middle school was awarded a $19,159 grant from the Kraft's family's Partners in Patriotism Fund to revamp its STEM electives next school year through the Project Lead the Way program.

The goal of the program, according to Foxborough Schools Assistant Superintendent Alison Mello, is to engage students in learning experiences in STEM that are motivating, hands-on, civic-minded, inspire curiosity and develop problem-solving skills.

"Building student interest, capacity and awareness in these STEM fields is a high priority for Foxborough Public Schools as we know that the learning experiences will build critical problem-solving and collaboration skills that will prepare them for a variety of career opportunities available in these fields," said Mello.

The program also incorporates a civics component to help build student awareness of their ability to impact and help others.

Mello said the grant allows the school to implement the following four programs for all seventh and eighth grade students:

• Medical Detectives
• Green Architecture
• Computer Science for Innovators
• Makers and Design and Modeling.

"Because PLTW is experiential, there is a significant initial investment in materials and equipment," said Mello. "Without the support of the PIP Fund, we would have had to scale back the implementation significantly and offer fewer modules to our students."

PLTW is expected to begin this summer with a full week of training for all teachers leading a module and student courses will commence during the school year.

"The benefits that our students will receive from this program will have long lasting implications and the PIP Fund’s support makes it possible to involve more students in these unique and powerful learning experiences," said Mello.