Middle School Students Share STEM Skills with Preschoolers

What's the distance between preschool and middle school? 

If you ask most parents, they'll do the math and say the distance is eight or nine years. Ask educators and they'll point to the major academic, social, and emotional gains young people make during the formative years between preschool and middle school.

Conveniently, here in Avon the distance between Avon Middle School South and the White Oak Early Learning Center is only about 100 yards. AMS South Automation and Robotics Teacher TJ Wolf and his students walked across the parking lot and made a major impression on White Oak ELC students today.

One of our school corporation's main goals is to create systemic and purposeful innovation opportunities to develop critical thinkers.

Mr. Wolf and his students have been busy building pull toys. What better way to test if the toys work — and more, if kids enjoy them — then to show them off to preschool students? The pull toys were impressive; there was a Cookie Monster with a spinning head, a duck-billed platypus with scampering legs and a top hat, noise makers, Dora the Explorer characters that chased one another, spinners, and more. Preschool students got to 'ooh' and 'aah' as the middle school students demonstrated their creations. Then they got to move in closer to inspect the wheels, gears, pulleys, and gadgets before giving a round of applause and heading back to class.

What the preschool students might not have known was that they were getting an early lesson in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math — STEM — a subject that will continue to be a major emphasis as they grow through Avon Schools in the years to come. In fact, one of our school corporation's main goals is to create systemic and purposeful innovation opportunities to develop critical thinkers. 

AMS South students, you inspired young minds today. Preschool students, keep learning, exploring, and building.

Learn about STEM in Avon