Middlesboro teachers share learning experiences with school board

A group of Middlesboro teachers had the opportunity to visit the Makers Space lab at MIT in June for a week of hands-on training and direct instruction from the MIT staff. They were shown how to facilitate a makers space in their own school and got to participate in several design projects that are used in STEM classrooms all over the country.

Educators Ben Slusher, Nick Shoffner, Nick Howard, Jeff McClelland and Kristen Brock took part in the training, which was made possible by John Shoffner and funded through his Perseid Foundation.

“We can not thank John Shoffner and the Perseid Foundation enough for their involvement in helping make this trip happen,” Superintendent Waylon Allen said. “We appreciate their partnership and dedication to Middlesboro Independent Schools.”

Slusher, Shoffner, Howard and McClelland gave a presentation at Tuesday’s Middlesboro School Board meeting and shared some of their experiences during the week.

“I really think once we get this going, it’s going to grow and we’re going to have different makers spaces somewhat like MIT,” McClelland said. “I can see us having a wood-working makers space and an electronics makers space, the different types of spaces are just endless.”

Slusher said the spaces could be a big part of the schools’ goal of producing holistic, well-rounded students.

“They’re not just necessarily just learning about drive shafts or electronics, they’re learning full educational skills like perseverance, problem solving and developing a sense of accomplishment from completing their projects,” he said. “My takeaway was not that I learned this cool camshaft device. It was that I didn’t give up and I was pretty pumped when it got made and I didn’t have to ask Jeff to do every single thing for me.”

The group said there were various aspects of the makers space that can be used in all grade levels and subject areas.

The Perseid Foundation also funded a trip to Napa, California for Middlesboro Middle School’s Aaron Sowders where he took part in a week of training on Project Based Learning. Sowders also gave a presentation to the board about what he had learned.

Project Based Learning is another STEM teaching model where students are presented the standards in a subject area through designing and creating a project to solve a real life problem.

“The biggest thing is students get to have a voice and a choice in what type of project they do and it builds a culture where they can venture out on their ideas because there are no right or wrong answers,” he said.

In other business, the board approved:

• The second reading of the KSBA Policy and Procedure Updates while voting no for now on allowing medical cannabis to be administered to students by school nurses. Medical cannabis will become legal in Kentucky on January 1 and the board will be able to update their policy before then after doing some further research into the issue.
• Memorandums of Understanding with LMU for a dual enrollment Gross Anatomy course and with Innovative Approaches to Literacy and Partners for Rural Impact for October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025.
• Payment to First State Financial of Middlesboro in the amount of $184,992.19 for the Phase II Renovation from August 1, 2017.
• Payment to First State Financial in the amount of $130,089.56 for refinancing of the School Facilities Construction Bond for the Middle School from April 1, 2015.
• Bond payment to First State Financial in the amount of $51,000 in interest for the Athletic Field Upgrade.
• A contract with Southern Kentucky Speech Therapy.

The next regular school board meeting will be on Tuesday, August 20 at 5 p.m. at the Central Office.

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