Partnership Enhances School’s Science Program
BIOS’s Ocean Academy Program has a new partner in delivering hands-on science education and learning opportunities to Bermuda’s students: The Chatmore Preparatory School.
Angela Fubler, founder and director of the all-boys school, credits an early conversation she had with Mark Guishard, BIOS director of corporate and community relations, with laying the groundwork for this new collaboration.
“The timing was perfect and the connection between BIOS staff and our team at Chatmore was instant,” says Fubler of the meeting.
BIOS’s science education program director, Kaitlin Baird, leads Chatmore students in an exploration of design and engineering principles by constructing 3-D models and testing them on an “earthquake” shake-table.
Along with Andrea Cann, Chatmore’s assistant director, Fubler shared her vision with BIOS education staff of celebrating local expertise, engaging the community as an educational resources and aligning learning experiences with students’ natural interests and talent.
As a result, beginning in mid-November, BIOS educators and scientists will provide formative and relevant experiential learning opportunities for Chatmore’s S1 students. The sessions, which run until May 2017, will focus on topics in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics [STEAM] with the ocean as a central organizing theme.
BIOS’s STEAMAhead curriculum, rooted in the principles of Ocean Literacy and aligned with the British National Science Curriculum, will introduce students and educators at Chatmore to cutting-edge technology and scientific research, while also fostering the development of real-world skills such as creativity and problem-solving.
Kaitlin Baird, BIOS’s science education program director, and Chatmore students investigate plate tectonics using evidence collected from fossils to recreate the supercontinent Pangaea.
“Our goal is to utilize the resources at BIOS to support Chatmore’s vision of cultivating a nation of learners who are global thinkers, investigators, explorers, innovators and inventors,” explains BIOS science educator Kaitlin Baird.
This also supports Ocean Academy’s ongoing efforts to use ocean science education to translate the work of BIOS scientists into meaningful experiences for students, teachers and residents.
For Fubler, this is an opportunity to see her school’s mission to “teach the way students learn” come to life.
“We are very grateful to BIOS for this opportunity to make learning both active and deeply relevant,” she says of the partnership. “Regardless of their ages, we want our students to value collaborative learning as part of their contribution to the community and this program allows us to model that mindset.”
The BIOS Ocean Academy program gives Bermudian students of all ages the chance to experience ocean science first-hand with a variety of learning opportunities in the classroom, laboratory and field. For more information on Ocean Academy please visit www.bios.edu/education.
For more information about Chatmore please contact 232-4542 or visit www.familyfirstschools.com.
This looks great! Such a positive story for our young men to be engaged in a variety of experiences. Going to have to find out more about this school! Looks like they’re doing good things.