Secretary of Technology Karen Jackson and Delegate Kathy Byron took an extensive tour of the Lynchburg City Schools Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programs in April, beginning with observing the one-to-one student laptop use at Dearington Elementary School for Innovation and ending with a visit to the nuclear engineering classroom at E. C. Glass High School.
The guests observed students using technology in the classroom, including the opportunities for differentiated instruction and student collaboration. At Dearington, the first stop was Ms. Sarah Poole’s and Ms. Marisa Freeman’s 5th-grade classrooms, where students were using laptops and smart boards to learn math concepts. Then, they were immersed in STEM activities in Ms. Tawanda Johnson’s and Ms. Jackie Davis’s fourth grade STEM labs. Each grade level at DESI goes through the STEM lab each week, working on age-appropriate activities that enhance the STEM concepts.
Then, the guests traveled back out to Langhorne Road where they observed the use of technology in Mr. Charles Yarbrough’s AP Social Studies classroom. In this class, each student has an i-Pad in place of a textbook. The final stop of the tour brought the guests to Kim Hansen’s Nuclear Technology class, one of only three of its kind in the country. Students demonstrated how they create objects in line with nuclear engineering career fields. This included a robotic device similar to the ones engineers use to maintain areas of nuclear labs that are dangerous for people to enter. Students have also built and launched model rockets and used laser technology to make signs.
At the conclusion of the event, LCS Superintendent Scott Brabrand and the Director of Technology David Childress presented the LCS-ONE plan to a crowd of about 50 visitors who were provided with a catered lunch by the E. C. Glass and Heritage High School Culinary Arts students. Others at the luncheon included Senator Steve Newman, Delegate Scott Garrett, Vice Mayor Ceasor Johnson, and HHS graduate and astronaut Leland Melvin.
“We’re delighted that Secretary Jackson visited Lynchburg City Schools,” said Superintendent Scott Brabrand. “It is the beginning of a deeper partnership with the state as we move toward a new vision of technology to enhance teaching and learning in LCS.”
