ANDERSON — Robby James and his 39 other classmates in Richard Ziuchkovski’s advanced placement calculus class are on a mission.
They want to propel Anderson Community Schools to the forefront of science, technology, engineering and math education in Indiana through certification.
“What if Buzz Aldrin never laded on the moon?” he told a group of parents, administrators and school board members during a special presentation at Anderson High School. “Imagine it’s 2022 and you’re still riding your horse to school. This is a world without STEM.”
The presentation was the final activity for the calculus class’s capstone project, Operation ASAP: ACSC STEM Action Program. The project included research and the publication of a 120-page white paper.
An educational direction that prepares students from pre-school to college, STEM is a tangible way to attract students to the district, James said.
“Students already transfer for sports. People already transfer for our calculus classes.”
ACS needs to follow in the footsteps of Mt. Vernon Community Schools, Zionsville Community Schools and Metropolitan School District of North Posey County, James said.
The students’ research included examinations of certification requirements, grade-appropriate programming, teacher training, dual credit and AP partnerships with colleges and universities and costs.
“We found a way for teachers to get certified for free,” James said.
Ziuchkovski started assigning capstone projects in 2003 when he realized the AP students had nothing constructive to do for the last two weeks because their curriculum ends in early May. Those projects over the years have included developing strategies to attract Nestle to Anderson, design the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and help the state resolve some thorny tax problems.
“I found this project is so good for them because they usually don’t do very much in the community,” he said.
Students often balk at the notion of researching a major issue, developing solutions and creating a report withing two weeks, Ziuchkovski said. Though students are allowed to pursue individual projects, they usually find it’s much easier to complete the assignment on time as a group, he said.
“It’s allowed them to do things they didn’t think they could do in a short matter of time.”
Ziuchkovski said the entire project from the selection of the issue to be examined to its execution is entirely student-driven.
“I try to be entirely hands-off,” he said. “They will fail in places. It’s hard because sometimes I can see the pitfalls coming.”
This year, the 40 AP students narrowed down the project from about 21 possibilities, Ziuchkovski said. Through their discussions, they decided that persuading ACS to pursue STEM certification would best combine their interests and priorities, he said.
“A lot of them were really passionate about this project,” he said. “They feel like it won’t only help the futures of the students but also the community at large.
ACS Superintendent Joe Cronk, who was in the audience for the presentation, said he’s not certain whether the district might follow up on the recommendations.
“I’ll have to look at the book more closely. The research really is good on this, and the principles are sound.”
However, Cronk said, it’s not easy starting up new STEM classes, especially because of the certification requirements for the teachers. Indiana already has a teacher shortage.
Still, he said, the district already is relatively “STEM-heavy.”
“We probably offer the most advanced placement and dual-credit courses in the area.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin on May 26, 2022.