As it entered its second full year of operations, Discovery Place Education Studio (DPES) at Bank of America STEM Center for Career Development also entered into a deep partnership with Cabarrus County Schools to help their educators become more effective and innovative teachers of STEM.

Working with four Cabarrus County Schools, DPES educators launched an intensive professional development sequence focused on problem-based learning (PBL). Educators from the selected elementary, middle and high schools attended sessions at DPES to learn this form of instruction where content is taught as students seek solutions to real-world problems. The educators then used their new pedagogical skills to develop PBL units for their particular classrooms.

DPES educators supported the teachers through grade-level specific coaching and workshops to model PBL. At the end of the process, the educators participated in an Innovative Teacher Showcase, demonstrating their projects and outcomes to colleagues, students and administrators as well as other schools in and around Cabarrus County.

The results for Cabarrus County were so successful that the school system expanded the partnership for the upcoming school year.

“After coming to Discovery Place Education Studio, our teachers are super engaged and they’re excited about STEM instruction…and that energy filters through our school system and through our school buildings and it goes directly to the kids,” said Brenda Eason, K-12 STEM Director for Cabarrus County Schools.

The program demonstrates the kind of ongoing relationship that the Education Studio is seeking to build with schools throughout the Carolinas.

“When you think about how we can make an impact on the whole school, it takes a partnership of this magnitude to truly develop a sustainable culture of STEM learning,” said Kellen Nixon, Director, Discovery Place Education Studio. “Cabarrus County understands that.”

For more information about partnerships, call Discovery Place Education Studio at 704.372.6261 x505 or click here to email.