The First WWSC Summer Academy is in the books. The staff from U.W. Stout and Western Technical College gave tremendous leadership along with business partners from Fort MCoy, Burr Oak Winery and Organic Valley. The two weeks were outstanding learning opportunities for educators to take back their classrooms. The expectations are now in place to use contextual teaching in the first career pathway the teachers undertook. That pathway, Agriculture and Environmental Education are going to be the door to infusing Math, Science and career and technical areas in a spiraled fashion for grades K through 12.
It has inspired many to rethink how they teach and how to consciously apply contextual aspects instead of teaching math and science because this is how we were taught so we will continue to teach others in the same fashion. It is now teaching with purpose. It is teaching with discussion among colleagues on better ways to help kids understand. It is taking educational standards and applying what is essential and giving them a perspective as to why the information is needed and how it really works.
Teachers are finding with the vast change in information reception and research that is available, the teacher truly is no longer the "Sage on the Stage" but the "Guide on the Side." The educator is quickly becoming a resource agent as well as facilitator of resources, information and assets in the community. The teachers in this project have tapped into community resources that were untouched and willing to partner in ways unthought of.
As the Western Wisconsin STEM Consortium moves into the fall there will be many exciting things happening to classrooms big and small all over western Wisconsin.
