Got Sputnik?

Sputnik crossing the night sky above a small coalmining town in West Virginia changed the world for Homer Hickam and his friends, as depicted in the movie, October Sky and Hickam’s book, Rocket Boys (1998). Inspired by his science teacher, he was one of the ones that went on to study science and work for NASA as a result of the push for science after Sputnik. And then there is the great line from Toy Story 2 when Sherriff Woody asks why Woody’s Round Up TV show was canceled, Stinky Pete replies, “Two words: Sput-nik; once the astronauts went up, children only wanted to play with space toys” (Disney-Pixar, 1999). Sputnik was an event that changed the course of American education and history. Unfortunately, the push for science and related fields have often taken a back burner in education in recent years. With the mandated 90-minutes of uninterrupted reading block, and trying to get in 90 minutes of math, science and social studies gets left out. The elementary schools in my district have gone to teaching science half of the grading period and social studies the other half. NOT NEAR enough of either one in my opinion. I believe that it will take another Sputnik-like event (Friedman, 2010) to light the fire under STEM education to get it the money and the focus that there needs to be. I am not, by any means, saying that reading is not important and does not need the time spent on it; everyone needs to read and understand what is read in order to be successful in other fields (I was a Title I Reading teacher for eight years; I know there is the need for more concentrated and effective reading instruction). But there is a place for STEM too. And the place to start is elementary school when the students are still in that mode where they are still curious and ask questions are still trying to figure out how the world around them works (Laureate Education, Inc. 2011). I think there should be some kind of an initiative that would provide the training and the money for needed supplies for all teachers to learn how to incorporate STEM into their classrooms. This would need to be on-going, not merely a year or two. It would be helpful to have a STEM coach at each building to help find resources and work with teachers to improve STEM education, similar to a literacy coach. Another idea I have, but not sure how to do it is that I think that many students do not go into STEM because they do not know the possibilities. Somehow getting more communication and exposure to what careers are out there would spark some interest and inspire students to pursue more STEM avenues. References Disney-Pixar. (Producer). (1999). Toy Story 2. Fredman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our Sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. 8 WK. 8. Retrieved January 16, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17friedman.html?_r=0 Hickam, H. (1998). Rocket Boys. New York, NY: Random House Publishing Co. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011).Promoting STEM education in the classroom in Looking into the future of science and education. Baltimore, MD: Author.