It’s full STEAM ahead for Granite Falls Middle School

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 9, 2017

GRANITE FALLS — Robots rolled down the hallway, teens edited video in the room next door and shop students worked with a laser engraver to make wooden medallions for academic awards.

That’s a fairly typical Wednesday at Granite Falls Middle School. A few years ago, it wouldn’t have been. Courses in science, technology, engineering, art and math — abbreviated STEAM — have been added and expanded.

Less than a year ago, the school board decided to ask voters for help improving those programs. The middle school used to be Granite Falls High School. Built in 1964, it wasn’t designed for many modern courses.

Voters in February narrowly passed a $13.7 million bond. Nearly half of the money is for a middle school renovation. The rest is split between a high school grandstand and district-wide security upgrades.

The high school opened in 2008 without a grandstand. The planned structure should have seating for 2,000, along with meeting rooms, storage and an entrance tunnel. Bond-funded security upgrades include new cameras, lighting and fencing, and an emergency alert system.

At the middle school, the plan is to gut an existing building and rebuild, Superintendent Linda Hall said. Sketches show a large manufacturing shop, culinary and fashion labs, and rooms for robotics, computers and art. Improvements to science and life skills classes also are in the works.

The next steps are detailed designs and hiring a builder. The goal is to start on the middle school and grandstand in February, Hall said. The projected opening for the STEAM building is December 2018.

Teachers say it will give sixth- through eighth-grade students new opportunities.

Randy Cash is one of three instructors who co-teach a class that combines yearbook, leadership and media. About 90 students work on projects such as assemblies, the student store, yearbook and videos. The class encourages independence. Students must pass other classes and stay out of trouble to remain in the program, Cash said.

His room has 16 computers, not enough for a full class. In the new building, he expects to have 30 computers, with better equipment and software. Plans also call for a recording studio. There’s been talk of band students recording music for their peers’ videos.

Seventh-grader Elizabeth Bassett, 13, has learned to pilot a drone for aerial photography and tackled a redesign of the student store. She’s also worked on videos, and thinks the studio will be an important addition.

“It’s hard to find a quiet room,” she said.

Kirk Parker teaches manufacturing in a shop filled with the noise of power tools and the smell of wood shavings. It used to be storage space. He took it over last fall.

The course is fairly basic, limited by space and equipment.

He plans to delve into technology and modern manufacturing in the new building. There would be a shared computer lab, 3D printers, CNC routers, welding equipment and a small engines room.

At the back of the shop on Wednesday, a group of boys worked with a laser engraver, designing patterns on a computer that the machine then burned into slabs of wood.

Malachi Caldera, 14, wants to make a logo for his dream business selling longboards. He built two boards as part of the manufacturing course, though one broke, he said.

Caldera and classmate Derek Caldart won’t be at the school when the new shop is done, but they hope it’s nice for the next students. Caldart would like to see a 3D printer, and Caldera thinks CNC machines would be a boon.

In Diana Haynes’ seventh-grade robotics class, students sketch out, code and test programs to get small, wheeled bots from the classroom to the principal’s office. It involves sharp turns and unexpected obstacles, such as uneven spots on the floor.

Robotics started about two years ago, around the same time as manufacturing, Haynes said. The bond upgrades mean more computers, better equipment and storage space.

Teachers say STEAM classes offer benefits for other courses, too. Classes such as shop, art or leadership become highlights for students.

“You have kids who failed in the past, and they won’t this year because they love these classes and they don’t want to leave,” Cash said. “We’re the hook.”

He’s been teaching since 1995. There’s always change, and he welcomes the shift toward in-depth, project-based learning.

“I still love coming to school every day,” he said. “It keeps getting better.”

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.