Educators in metro Albany and Southwest Georgia will have a chance to get better acquainted with the importance of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education at a one-day seminar on Nov 13, 2018 at the Albany Museum of Art. It is the first in a series of STEAM seminars being conducted by the Georgia Department of Education.
 
The seminar will be 9 am-2:30 pm at the museum located at 311 Meadowlark Drive, adjacent to the Albany State University West Campus. The cost of the seminar is $15, which covers lunch.
 
“It will be a one-day teacher seminar,” Meghan McFerrin, STEAM/STEM program specialist at the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), said. “I’ve been working with (Albany Museum of Art Director of Education and Public Programming) Chloe Hinton to plan it. It’s a joint collaboration with the Georgia Department of Education and the Albany Museum of Art.”
 
Officials with GaDOE say STEAM education is important to the state’s future because it better prepares students to enter the 21st century workplace. STEAM education allows students to prepare for careers through exposure to high-quality educational opportunities in the five fields. Georgia’s STEAM education is described by GaDOE as “an integrated curriculum that is driven by exploratory project-based learning and student-centered development of ideas and solutions.”
 
One purpose of the seminar is to instill in participants the importance of developing community partnerships in creating a STEAM school culture.
 
“We’re really pushing STEAM education now, and we’re bringing in interdisciplinary aspects,” McFerrin said. “We’re going beyond the K-12 and school setting. It’s been great working with and going into museums and art organizations around the state.”
 
She said integrating the arts into STEAM creates opportunities to use art forms to teach concepts such as math and technology.
 
As an example of how that can work, in mid-September professional chalk artist Jessi Queen visited Robert H. Harvey Elementary School in East Albany ahead of the Sept 22 AMA ChalkFest in downtown Albany. In addition to seeing how a grid system can facilitate the creation of a chalk art sidewalk piece at the school, the students incorporated imagery and concepts associated with science, technology, engineering and math into the work.
 
Hinton noted that the AMA has been actively finding ways to incorporate STEAM concepts into its programming, including the museum’s monthly Homeschool Day and Toddler Takeover sessions.
 
“We know the importance of the STEAM education and we are always looking for innovative ways to incorporate it into our educational programming for students,” she said.
 
McFerrin said organizers hope the Nov 13 seminar will attract educators from throughout the region. The program is for teachers, administrators and other educators “in any school district,” she said.
 
“We’re trying to target teachers in the school systems who want to know more about STEAM education,” she said.
 
Educators can register for the seminar online at:
 
http://albanymuseum.doubleknot.com/event/steam-seminar-w-the-georgia-department-of-education/2407529
 
The deadline for registration is Thursday, Nov 8.