Episode 13: Social Studies, Science & STEM (Oh My!)
Marti Cohn, Lowell Public Schools Social Studies and Science Coordinator and Patty Myers, STEM District Specialist are not just experts in curriculum, but two of the most supportive administrators/coaches in the Lowell Public Schools.
A lifelong Lowell resident and LHS alum, Martha “Marti” Cohen became a science teacher after a career as a medical technician. She began her teaching career as a middle school science teacher at the An Wang school in Lowell, and in 2012 became Lowell’s Social Studies and Science Coordinator. As Social Studies and Science Coordinator, Marti has overseen the transformation of Lowell’s Science and Social Studies curricula as new Massachusetts and new national standards have been implemented. Marti can be reached by email at mcohn@lowell.k12.ma.us.
Patricia “Patty” Myers, STEM District Specialist also grew up right here in Lowell and graduated from Lowell High School. Patty has taught for 33 year - all of it right here in Lowell. She has taught every grade level from Kindergarten through Grade 8, including Special Education, Science, and Content Literacy. Patty can be reached by email at pmyers@lowell.k12.ma.us.
Marti and Patty both have been leading the district through training and guiding staff in everything from new standards developed by the Department of Education, to providing up-to-date resources like FOSS kits and support for district social studies programming such as Generation Citizen.
In this podcast, we had the opportunity to catch up with Marti and Patty about some amazing ways Social Studies, Science and STEM are integrated into the curriculum starting with Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten all the way to High School.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) has developed Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and Science & Engineering. Click the links to see these standards.
For more information about FOSS kits used across LPS elementary schools click here. For information about Generation Citizen, click this link OR listen to Pyne Arts middle school teacher, Michael Neagle talk about this program in Podcast Episode 7.
Lowell’s Kinetic Sculpture 2018 Race will take place on Saturday, September 22, 2018. Read more about this fun event here.
Two program mentioned in this interview: Girls Who Code and Idea Camp are result from Lowell Schools’ partnership with Project Learn. For more information on the Girls Who Code program, visit girlswhocode.com.
Thanks to our Marti and Patty for stopping by this week. As always, we thank you for listening to this week's podcast. We welcome your comments and feedback. If you have suggestions for future podcasts, send us an email at UTLStraightTalk@gmail.com. And if you enjoy our podcasts, be sure to spread the word - or share with a friend (or two).
