Full Steam Ahead

By Ron Fortier

Fifteen years ago, concerned citizens in the greater New Bedford area wondered about the specific impact of limited educational success and opportunities for girls. Research had shown that positive educational opportunities for middle-school-aged girls contributed to reduced teenage pregnancy while increasing high school graduation rates and offered a greater possibility of post-secondary education. It was about creating an overall interruption of the poverty cycle. The concerned citizens formed a group and took on the challenging task of starting a tuition-free middle school. The school’s focus and mission was about serving the economically disadvantaged girls of New Bedford. In September 2008, it opened its doors to fifth and sixth grade students. Today, Our Sisters’ School now has 72 girls enrolled in grades five through eight.

The students are from diverse races, backgrounds, cultures, and faiths. An added element to the school’s success is their STEM and STEAM programs. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The same goes for STEAM, but with the addition of Art. These have traditionally been male-dominated fields, and, in a co-ed environment, girls tend to fall behind, but not due to any lack of ability. An article in Microsoft Philanthropies’ “Closing the STEM Gap,” documents that “Middle school girls who participate in STEM clubs and activities are more than twice as likely to say they’ll study physics in high school, and nearly three times as likely to say they’ll study engineering.” This curriculum offers practical experience and brings STEM to life with positive experiences that are reinforced when girls can see women in STEM careers. OSS established a baseline STEAM program in 2016 and offered a necessary and unique opportunity. Offering STEAM education is a long-term commitment to experiential education. So far, it has proven that both STEM and STEAM experiences work quite successfully in a flexible, extended-day schedule. The school day at OSS is ten hours long. Since the start, every OSS student has had access to the multidisciplinary STEAM Lab whose goal is to integrate the arts, sciences, engineering, math, and technology with standards-based learning. The weekly explorations stretch students’ minds and encourage them to take risks.

The next generation

Mistakes are a part of the lesson plan and teach the students how to gain mastery and increase their confidence. Students spend several hours each week in STEAM Lab. The proof is in the pudding, with visible results that are very encouraging and reflected in standardized testing and overall student engagement. Besides the impressive array of technology and equipment in the lab are the coaches the students are partnered with.

These coaches are in the workforce. They possess knowledge in the applicable subject areas and offer students a practical versus a theoretical approach to learning. The coaches are an integral part of the entire process. They guide and critique the students’ efforts and give them access to Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, and Creativity. The STEAM staff has observed positive changes in students because of the STEAM program and how these young women have cultivated their skills, tenacity, and desire to work as designers, engineers, and builders. According to Tobey Eugenio, the school’s Creativity Director and a STEAM teacher, grant supported funding has “Facilitated the School’s ability to provide relevant learning experiences that stimulate solutions to real-world problems in real time, helping us to enhance the capacity of our students to be agents of change.” Head of School Sarah Herman says, “It is a privilege to provide a special learning environment for hardworking girls who wouldn’t otherwise have access to a school that attends, as we do, to their academic and personal potential. It is also amazing to witness the impact that an all-girls’ middle school program can have.” The student’s interaction with the community has been crucial. They have learned that they can make a difference. They are better equipped, says Eugenio, “to envision solutions and act on them; and that they can be actively involved in their community [which] also provides first-hand opportunities to help them visualize their life’s path. “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.” Our Sisters’ School is recognized as a leader in STEAM education for girls in the South Coast, as evidenced by their talented, informed, skilled, and knowledgeable graduates that are equipped with a strong growth mindset allowing them to embrace any challenge and persevere, knowing that they can make a difference. Our Sisters' School is located at 145 Brownell Avenue in New Bedford. For more information visit OurSistersSchool.org.

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