Students from Ashley Hall’s Early Education Center and first grade have been exploring building and construction. The students have been practicing making 2-D sketches and bringing them to life in the classroom. In collaboration with this study, the students were able to visit the Medical University of South Carolina’s construction site for the new Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. This was such a wonderful way for the students to understand the different steps that happen in the construction process. They were also able to meet many different local professionals and were able to observe many of the equipment tools at work.
Ashley Hall fifth graders are working with the Lowcountry Maritime Society (LMS) on a unique STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) project. LMS staff come to campus weekly to work with the girls on creating their own fleet of wooden boats. The girls are guided through the process of learning how to read scaled plans and transform those plans into a wooden boat they build themselves. Throughout the semester students are also taught about local maritime history and seamanship skills. Research shows that girls decide as early as fifth grade if they will consider careers in the areas of math and science. Ashley Hall understands the importance of STEAM related programming as it relates to an all-girls’ education.
Lower School Art Teacher, Tina Hirsig, and Kristen Callahan, Director of Technology, Innovation and Education have teamed together to create several dedicated “tinkering” spaces around campus which feature unique collaborative installations. Tina and Kristen believe that shaping and reshaping the world around us through the process of creative play promotes, supports and fosters critical thinking, curiosity, collaboration, problem-solving, exploration, and self discovery.
Each installation—Earth Loom, Lego Wall, and Chalkboard Wall—incorporates our school Hallmarks: Worldly, Compassionate, Discerning, Creative, Intelligent, Purposeful, Collaborative which serve as guiding principles. Teachers bring their disciplinary knowledge to the installation in order to expand and elaborate on their curriculum. These spaces serve as an incubator for new ideas with emphasis on what is already being taught in the classroom. These interactive installations have the potential to extend what students are learning academically, socially, and/or creatively.
Kindergarten students recently used their sea turtle knowledge while visiting the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Hospital. Each student chose one turtle to research and create an observational drawing. The students presented Kelly Thorvalson, from the sea turtle hospital, with $1,124 that the students raised from their bake sale!
Congratulations to Lower School faculty member and science teacher extraordinaire, Beth McCarty, who received the Daisy Barron Leland Award for Teaching Excellence during Monday’s faculty meeting. Named in honor of Mrs. Daisy Barron Leland, who taught mathematics at Ashley Hall for 22 years, the award is given in recognition for teaching excellence in mathematics, science, or use of technology in the classroom. PQV, Mrs. McCarty!
Did you know that the earlier girls are encouraged to explore STEM programming (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) the more likely they will be interested in pursuing this area of study later in their academic careers? In early February, Lower School students hosted STEM Night, inviting parents and our campus community. Using the engineering design process, 3rd and 4th graders were challenged to build a hovercraft that hovers and travels across a table.
STEM + girls = Success