In a March newsletter, Coppell ISD addressed the addition of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) curriculum to the existing specials classes in elementary schools for the 2023-24 school year.

“Throughout our recent visioning and bond planning work, our stakeholders have been vocal about expanding opportunities for hands-on engineering, robotics, science and coding in CISD,” Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt said in the newsletter. “This initiative helps us meet the wants of our community and allows us to better prepare students for the pathways available to them in CISD and in their future.” 

The program will give all students hands-on experience with robotics, coding, science and other topics. 

“By providing a STEAM curriculum at all elementary schools, we are creating a foundation that can extend to middle school, high school and beyond, which will better prepare our students for the workforce of the future,” Dr. Hunt said.

Students in CISD middle schools have the option to take a STEM course, and Coppell High School and New Tech @ Coppell  offer a plethora of STEAM-based classes for students to choose.

“With as much as the current generation is around technology, it constantly surprises me how little they know how to use it,” CHS Engineering and Robotics teacher Grant Garner said.

Now that elementary schools will be using STEAM in classes, students will have a firmer foundation on concepts before entering higher levels of education. 

In the newsletter, the district states that by starting STEAM education at a young age, current gaps in skills such as the design process, coding and manipulating files on computers can be filled. Students will be left more prepared for their careers that lie ahead.

“When I first started considering going into [the computer science] field, I was scared because it seemed like such a big and complicated mess of things,” sophomore Amanda Zhu said. “If I had this opportunity when I was younger, I would have been able to learn more about what an interesting and fun field this is.”

A research paper by the National Science Foundation describes that with childrens’ involvement with technology at increasingly young ages, safety on their devices remains a large issue. They add that digital citizenship is essential to be taught along with other STEAM education. 

“It is just like voting and how you treat your neighbors,” STEM teacher Michael Yakubovsky said. “Understanding digital citizenship is just as important for them to learn.”

CISD’s STEAM curriculum introducing these concepts at a young age will help close gaps among underrepresented populations. The curriculum will include coding, robotics, the engineering design process, career exploration and science.

“There are a lot of pushes in middle and high school to get women into STEAM, but it needs to start in elementary school,” Yakubovsky said.

The CISD newsletter also mentions this program follows its vision as a District of Innovation, hoping that this program will help students learn more about possibilities in their futures and prepare them for the pathways ahead in this increasingly digital world. 

“Let’s bring these kids up in a way that they understand that science, technology, engineering, art and math are all weaved together,” Garner said.

Cottonwood Creek Elementary fourth grader Poorv D. likes the district’s decision to incorporate these programs in his school.

“I think it will get the students to be more creative and help the STEAM field progress because more people in the field will result in new ideas,” Poorv said. “I am hoping to see more cool inventions around the school. I am able to program on Scratch, but I am not able to make machines, so I would like to learn how to do that.”

Coppell parent Debomita Dasgupta is excited about the program because of its ability to teach STEAM to every student.

“Many students do STEAM classes in paid after school clubs, and we put them into expensive STEAM classes in the summer too,” Dasgupta said. “If they put STEAM into the existing curriculum, all of the kids will be exposed to this since there aren’t any monetary restrictions. If they are exposed to this at a young age, it will help them choose their path later on.” 

According to an article by Yeti Academy STEM, STEM education not only helps students learn about programming and robotics. It also teaches them technical and interpersonal skills that can be applied to any career they choose in the future.

Follow Deepali Kanchanavally (@deepali0914) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.