A District-Wide Leap Toward STEM Excellence
This school year marks a transformative moment for Marion Community Schools as STEM instruction officially launched across every pre-K through fourth-grade classroom. What began as informal afterschool clubs has evolved, through ESSER and Title funding, into a fully integrated, district-wide program led by certified STEM teachers rotating into each classroom every four days.
Over the summer of 2024, four dedicated STEM educators created a new standards-aligned curriculum designed to give all students, especially those in third and fourth grade with limited prior exposure, a strong foundation in STEM thinking. This initiative is more than a schedule change; it’s the start of a long-term vision to strengthen intermediate, junior high, and high school career pathways with a solid elementary foundation.
Discovering & Implementing Woz ED: From Kits to Curriculum Innovation
The district’s partnership with Woz ED has been more than an adoption of materials—it has sparked genuine innovation. At Kendall Elementary, teachers creatively intertwined Woz ED animation and augmented reality kits with Indiana literacy and math standards. Students storyboard characters, explore plot structure, and build narrative arcs through animation before ever writing a single word. This approach has allowed them to experience rising action, climax, and resolution in a tactile, visual way, deepening overall comprehension.
Even mathematical concepts like ratios emerge naturally as students size objects and design scenes. Teachers then connect these discoveries back to formal academic language in end-of-lesson discussions, helping students realize they’ve been thinking critically all along. This literacy-STEM integration, paired with an emphasis on communication, collaboration, persistence, and problem-solving, has become a defining feature of the district’s approach.
STEM Programming in Action: Discovery, Growth, and Real-World Skills
Across schools, STEM learning now reflects a discovery-based philosophy: teachers give minimal instructions and encourage students to figure things out alongside their peers. This shift has been especially powerful in social-emotional growth, an urgent need in a post-COVID learning landscape.
At the Allen building, early data from the Thinking Classroom pilot shows notable decreases in frustration behaviors from September to October. Students who once struggled with sharing materials or giving partners space to think are now learning to communicate needs, self-regulate, and seek peer support before turning to adults.
The human stories behind this growth are remarkable: A fourth grader who previously walked out of class when his project wasn’t finished now checks the STEM schedule weekly and enters class ready to engage. A life skills class produced a full clay stop-motion retelling of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, complete with voiceover, astonishing staff and families with their creativity. One preschooler used foam letters to produce an intricate animation featuring coordinated turning, movement patterns, and even dancing, all from a single session’s simple pattern instruction.
These stories illustrate the heart of the program: STEM as an engine for confidence, curiosity, and competence.
Looking to the Future: A Pathway from Kindergarten to Career
The elementary STEM launch is just the beginning. At the 5/6 building, Mr. Cheney is preparing to welcome students who now arrive with stronger foundational skills, enabling deeper, more complex exploration.
Next, the district hopes to expand the racing drones program and data science experiences into upper elementary levels, roll out Woz ED Level 3 and 4 kits for advanced projects, and align their curriculum with the career center, ensuring that skills acquired in elementary and middle school tie directly into high school pathway opportunities.
Early summer camps—like the drone camp that inspired a local Hobby Lobby to sell out of drones—have already shown strong community appetite for expanded STEM experiences. As this multi-year vision continues to take shape, Marion Community Schools is building more than curriculum. They’re building confidence, creativity, and initiative in every student that walks through the door.
