STEM-DEVELOPMENT OF BARANOVICHY TOWN: NEW STEAM CENTER AND DISCUSSION ABOUT PROSPECTS

On the 15th of February the grand opening of a STEAM-center took place in State Educational Institution “Baranovichy Secondary School No. 20”. The Association team also visited Baranovichy Secondary School No. 19.

On the map of Belarus Baranovichy town now be labeled with the letter “S”: after all, the project for introducing STEM directions into general secondary educational institutions and creating a favorable environment for STEM development is actively carrying out in the town. Both STEM teachers and the local government are interested in STEM-development of town schools. In 2018 with the assistance of the Association “Education for Future” STEM-centers were opened in two Baranovichy gymnasiums: gymnasium No. 3 and gymnasium No. 4.  And on the 15th of February 15 one STEM center was opened on the basis of the State Educational Institution “Baranovichy Secondary School No. 20”.

The STEM-center in the school No. 20 is the first STEM-center, which the Association opens this year from 11 planned. In 2019 10 STEM-centers will be created in various Belarussian towns, i.e. in schools that won the competition “I want to study in STEM class!”.

The opening ceremony was attended by teachers and school administration, representatives of the Association “Education for Future” and the education department of the Baranovichy district executive committee, as well as schoolchildren, who now have at their disposal the new equipment that allows them to implement their creative ideas and develop technical skills. Now pupils of the school have a space, where, under the guidance of professionals, they can work on programming, designing robots, modeling or even creating their own interdisciplinary STEM project!

The peculiarity of the created educational center is that the four basic STEM directions are supplemented with the fifth one: Art. The school plans to involve a philologist-linguist in teaching at the STEAM-center in order to develop the training in the field of multimedia journalism.

After the opening ceremony a round table discussion on the prospects of Baranovichy STEM-centers was held for teachers. Teachers were able to discuss their questions about the organization of STEM-learning. Teachers who had already taught children in STEM-centers shared their experience, gave advice and recommendations.

In Baranovichi town the Association team also visited the welcoming Secondary School No. 19. The teachers introduced the representatives of the Association to the school’s resources, and also communicated in informal atmosphere and shared their ideas on STEM-development.

Text: Margarita Rovbo. Photo provided by Baranovichy Secondary School №20.