W-F program hires new teacher
By James Card
The Fremont STEM Academy started its first year with 12 students under the guidance of teacher Jennifer Steidtman.
For this school year, the enrollment has almost doubled to 22 students and Brianna Lubbers was hired as another teacher to handle the growing student body.
Last year’s class adopted two guinea pigs. During the summer break, students took turns taking care of the fluffy rodents at their homes. They are back this year but their upkeep is minimal as one student invented a school-wide composting project.
The student went to each class in Fremont Elementary School, taught a lesson on composting to the younger students and developed a chart for what lunch scraps should or should not be dumped into the compost bins. The entire school got on board and an outside compost pile grows for future gardening projects. Leftover vegetables are secured for the guinea pigs.
Opened to seventh graders
For the first year, fifth and sixth graders were enrolled and this year it was opened to seventh graders.
“We had over 30-some field trips. It was quite a riot. Almost one a week. We went to places as simple in our backyard in Weyauwega to Mosquito Hill, the EAA, the National Train Museum, Hartman Creek State Park, the Waupaca airport, and a lot of places we repeated so we could continue growing our skills. We would do field studies last year, a couple times a week. We went to Partridge Lake were we could access the Wolf River,” said Steidtman.
The outside of the school will continue to be developed. They have a storage shed and a compost bin, and a park shelter-style outdoor classroom is in the planning stage, and a greenhouse will be built.
For Brianna Lubbers, it is her 10th year as a teacher but it’s her first in a hands-on charter school geared toward STEM subjects. Previously she was a sixth-grade teacher at Merrill Middle School in Oshkosh.
“I really like the different layout of teaching and the project-based part. Seeing them learn in a different ay has been a really good experience,” said Lubbers.
They are planning for 30 or more field trips for this school year. A micro prairie will be planted on school grounds and they also got six canoes to further their expeditions afield. During their first test run, Steidtman said the students showed good teamwork and nobody was swamped. They will continue to use FlashForge 3D printers, GlowForge laser engravers and plasma cutters on various projects. A large fish tank was donated to the school and in November the turtles will join the guinea pigs in the classroom.