District To Expand Technology Program

SPRINGDALE — Ashley Young said staying in the Environmental And Spatial Technology program throughout her school years could help her gain experience to get a good job.

Ashley, 10, said she has been in the program at Sonora Elementary School for one year, and will be in middle school next year. There's one problem: only one middle school in the district offers the technology program, and it’s not the one she’ll be going to.

Officials in the Springdale School District want to expand the program districtwide, said Jim Rollins, superintendent. Money from the Race To The Top grant the district received this week will be used to expand the number of programs in the district to nine.

Matt Dozier, president and chief executive officer of the Environmental And Spatial Technology Initiative headquartered in Little Rock, said the program has three goals: to promote self-directed learning; promote problem solving with technology to complete community projects; teach teamwork. Many of the projects students work on have an impact on the world around them, Dozier said.

“They’re all working towards a common purpose, which means the kids have to hold each other accountable,” he said.

Har-Ber High School, Springdale High School, Tyson Middle School, Sonora Elementary School and Westwood Elementary School offer the program, Rollins said. Har-Ber has offered the program the longest, about eight years. The newest program is at Tyson, according to the Environmental And Spatial Technology Initiative website.

A districtwide program would help students, because they could stay in the program until they graduate from high school, said Josh Worthy, program facilitator at Sonora. Older students could also team up with younger students to work on projects. He said it would be great if Sonora Middle School had a program, too.

“We could just walk across the street and see the EAST kids,” he said.

An expansion of the program in the district could also help program facilitators by giving them a larger network of teachers to work with, Worthy said. The district’s current program facilitators help each other with problems and offer advice.

Cayden Aaserude, 7, sat on the floor in the Environmental And Spatial Technology classroom at Sonora on Thursday. He adjusted the angle of a camera, moved Lego pieces on a layout of a metropolitan city, then took a photo. He did this repeatedly, moving the pieces a small distance for each photo.

Cayden is a second-grader at Sonora and said he uses his time in the program to make stop-motion videos. He said he might want to be an animator when he grows up.

Students in the program learn real life skills companies value, Dozier said. Many students have portfolios of their work as early as elementary school.

“We’re giving these kids the opportunity that when they walk out, they don’t just work for Pixar, they are Pixar,” he said.

Pixar is an animation company that created films such "Toy Story,” “Up,” “Cars” and “Finding Nemo,” according to the company’s website.

Cayden said he’s learned a lot in the program, and other students ask him how to perform actions on the computer.

“Usually, I have to show them how to do their password,” he said.

Ashley said she’s learned many new skills during her first year in the program. She’s learned how to make PowerPoint presentations, how to use Pic Stitch, a program used to create photo collages, and she has learned better communication skills.

It can be expensive to start an Environmental And Spatial Technology program, Dozier said. The technology itself costs about $67,000.

Many schools start their program through a grant from the Environmental And Spatial Technology Initiative, Dozier said. The Arkansas Department of Education gives money to the initiative every year for the grants. The grant covers all of the technology to start a program and two years of professional development for the facilitator. Districts which receive a grant also have to commit $25,000, he said.

When officials at Sonora got a grant to start their program, the school received 15 computers, one laptop computer, one server, one black and white printer, one color printer, one plotter printer for posters and blueprints, six cameras, a green screen, lights, one iPad and software for the computers, Worthy said.

Nine schools in Springdale applied for the grants last year, but only one school received money, Dozier said. The Race To The Top grant the district received will allow officials to start programs in the schools without grant money from the initiative.

Officials at Bentonville High School applied for an Environmental And Spatial Technology grant last year, received it and started their program this year, said Jack Loyd, assistant principal. Three to four schools applied last year, and he thinks a group of schools will apply next year.

Fayetteville High School is the only school in that district that has the program, said Drew Yoakum, program facilitator. He said he doesn’t know if district officials want to expand the program. He said construction projects at the high school are a priority right now.

The Rogers School District doesn’t have any Environmental And Spatial Technology programs, said Ashley Siwiec, district communications director. Officials haven’t discussed adding the program.

Some smaller school districts in Arkansas already have programs in all of their schools, Dozier said. If Springdale goes districtwide with the program, it could be the first large district to do so.

“If this is part of the dream, there’s plenty of call for it,” he said.