Sumner County Schools

Sumner County Schools Leads the state in STEM Education with 4 more Schools Earning Special Designation

The Tennessee Department of Education in conjunction with the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network announced that Portland Gateview, Howard Elementary, Millersville Elementary and White House High School have received Tennessee STEM / STEAM School Designation. The honor recognizes schools for their commitment to promoting and integrating science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics learning for all students that ultimately prepares them for post-secondary college and career success in the 21st century.

“We work hard to equip our kids for the world they will meet 10, 20, 50 years down the road and we want them to use the real-world lessons, curiosity and creativity they are learning now to be productive and successful citizens,” Howard Elementary Principal, Cindy Swafford said. “Receiving STEM Designation is the result of a lot of hard but fruitful work and was the result of a team effort including Dr. Louise Griffith (STEAM Committee Chair), devoted members of our STEAM committee, teachers, students, community partners, and our parents who have worked tirelessly to achieve this goal.”

Since the designation program launched in 2018, 88 schools have earned the Tennessee STEM / STEAM Designation, which the department developed in partnership with the STEM Leadership Council to provide a “roadmap” for schools to successfully implement a STEM and/or STEAM education plan at the local level. Schools that receive this honor also serve as models to inspire and teach others. All K-12 public and private schools serving students in Tennessee are eligible. Of the 88 designated schools across the state, 11 are home to Sumner County Schools. They include Jack Anderson Elementary, Union Elementary, Station Camp Elementary, Oakmont Elementary, Dr. William Burrus Elementary, Indian Lake Elementary, Portland East Middle, Portland Gateview Elementary, Howard Elementary, Millersville Elementary and White House High School.

Each school that received the Tennessee STEM/STEAM School Designation underwent a rigorous application process, including completing a self-evaluation, participating in interviews, and hosting site visits with the Tennessee STEM/STEAM Designation review team. The designation rubric included five focus areas: infrastructure, curriculum and instruction, professional development, achievement, and community and postsecondary partnerships. As a part of the process, schools were also required to submit a plan of action for implementing and sustaining STEM and/or STEAM education for the next five years.

"Portland Gateview is excited to be awarded STEAM designation from the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) and the Tennessee Department of Education. At PGE, we are focused on providing hands-on learning and ensuring our students receive the foundational skills to be successful learners," Portland Gateview Principal Dr. Karen Jarrett said. "Our students are exposed to community project-based learning and are building skills to be college and career ready. We want to thank all of our community partners for helping us achieve this goal of becoming STEAM designated!"

Starting this school year, schools could either apply for a STEM or STEAM Designation through the designation rubric. Schools that sought to apply for the STEAM Designation emphasized the integration of the arts in their STEM application.

"Schools that earn STEM Designation incorporate strong STEM teaching and learning experiences that rest on inquiry, technology integration, work-based learning, and project/problem-based learning strategies tied to the world around us,” said Brandi Stroecker, Tennessee STEM Innovation Network Director. “Each school has a unique STEM program yet incorporates a similar approach by providing cross-curricular teaching practices where students apply the concepts they are learning. The network appreciates these schools as they are providing students with learning experiences that shape their aspirations for the future.”

STEM/STEAM education is an interdisciplinary curriculum in which activities in one class complement those in other classes. It also offers teaching and learning opportunities focused on inquiry, technology, and project-based learning activities and lessons connected to the real world.

Sumner County Robotics Teams Heading to World Championship

Sumner County Schools has five middle-school robotics teams competing at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas this week after earning their spots at the state tournament. Meta (formerly Facebook) has donated $11,000 to Sumner County Schools to offset travel expenses for students and coaches to attend the event, as well as to sponsor a local robotics competition which occurred on April 30, 2022.

“It’s exciting to see Sumner County students competing on the biggest stage for robotics; it doesn’t get any bigger or better than the world tournament. The achievement of having five teams competing is amazing,” said Chase Moore, Sumner County Schools Supervisor of CTE and STEM. “We’ve worked hard to build a competitive robotics program for our students, and this proves we are headed in the right direction. We are grateful for Meta's generosity and their vision to help strengthen our CTE and STEM programs.”

Meta has been a part of the Sumner County community since 2020, when the company broke ground on its data center in Gallatin, Tenn.

“At Meta, we are enthusiastic supporters of STEM education because of its ability to build community and bring the world closer together. We were proudly cheering for the impressive local students at the county competition last weekend and can’t wait to see what the future holds for these promising young people,” said Tara Tenorio, Community Development Regional Manager for Meta.

On April 30, Meta employees volunteered to work the second-annual Sumner County Schools’ Middle School Robotics Competition that included 33 teams from across the county.

Congratulations to:

Ellis Middle School

Portland East Middle School

T.W. Hunter Middle School

1st Place School Award and $300 Ellis Middle School
2nd Place School Award and $250 Portland East Middle School
3rd Place School Award and $200 T.W. Hunter Middle School

Teamwork Champions Ellis Middle School (Team 1) and Portland East Middle School (Team 2)
2nd Place Teamwork Ellis Middle School (Team 2) and Westmoreland Middle School (Team 2)
3rd Place Teamwork Ellis Middle School (Team 4) and T.W. Hunter Middle School (Team 2)

1st Place Driver Skills Ellis Middle School (Team 1)
2nd Place Drive Skills Portland East Middle School (Team 2)
3rd Place Driver Skills Ellis Middle School (Team 2)

1st Place Programming Skills Ellis Middle School (Team 1)
2nd Place Programming Skills Ellis Middle School (Team 2)
3rd Place Programming Skills T.W. Hunter Middle School (Team 1)

Top Gun Award Ellis Middle School (Team 1) and Portland East Middle School (Team 2)
Best Rookie Team Ellis Middle School (Team 2)
Most Photogenic Robot Ellis Middle School (Team 5)
Overall Skills Champion Ellis Middle School (Team 1)

The five teams heading to the Vex Robotics World Championship this week are from the following schools:

Portland East Middle School (Coach Dale Sadler)
Ellis Middle School (Coach Jeff Wilkins)
Westmoreland Middle (Coach Kathy Jones)

Student-led teams will showcase their game strategy, design and teamwork skills as they vie to be crowned champions at the global event.

BHS Students Named Advocates of the Year in Washington D.C.

Incredibly inspired by the work of the Sumner County TNSTRONG Ambassadors, recently recognized as the 2022 Group Youth Advocates of the Year in Washington D.C. Join us, in congratulating Beech High School students, Nahzah Blair, Hadley Brown, Niya Angelova, and Ella Paligo. During their freshman year of high school, they started a tobacco prevention group to educate their classmates about the dangers of vaping and now serve as state representatives for the Tennessee Stop Tobacco and Revolutionize Our New Generation (TNSTRONG) Ambassador Program.

Constantly looking for new ways to connect with fellow students to promote tobacco prevention, they created their “Be a Hero, Drop Vaping to Zero” campaign and convinced 700 of their peers – as well as U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn and other elected officials – to pledge to remain vape-free. In addition to their community work, they presented a universal substance abuse policy – with a focus on vaping – to the Sumner County Board of Education, which adopted the policy, and convinced the Governor to declare March as Anti-Vaping Month. As a result of their relentless efforts, they gained the sponsorship of America’s largest health insurer, United Healthcare, and their local Sumner Prevention Coalition.

“We are thrilled to honor the Sumner County TNSTRONG Ambassadors as our Group Youth Advocates of the Year,” said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “The TNSTRONG Ambassadors are making a difference in the fight for healthier, more equitable communities. They are proof that a group of young people can come together and stand up to the tobacco industry while inspiring their peers to be tobacco-free and encouraging elected officials to take action.”

Every year, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids honors a National Youth Advocate of the Year, four Individual Youth Advocates of the Year, and Group Youth Advocates of the Year. The winners receive scholarships to continue their tobacco prevention efforts and serve as youth ambassadors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Additional information about the youth award winners can be found at tfk.org/awards and more resources and information about tobacco can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org.

SCHS Teacher Shares Purple Heart with Students

It's very rare to be awarded with a Purple Heart, but Station Camp High School students got to see one thanks to their History Teacher, Drew Van Huss. During the Vietnam War, Van Huss' father was injured when his unit was ambushed. His father was one of the few survivors of that attack. Van Huss even wears his father's service jacket as he shows students the telegram his grandparents received after his father had been wounded in combat.

Van Huss is the 2021-22 Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) state chapter.