From solving real-world business problems to drafting three-dimensional renderings, students in Westerville City Schools have a variety of new learning opportunities thanks to the district’s partnership with Innovation Generation.
This is the first year Innovation Generation curriculum has been offered.
Innovation Generation, based in Reynoldsburg, works with 15 central Ohio school districts to provide technological opportunities to which their students might not otherwise have access. And the programs do more than expand students’ knowledge; they allow students the chance to obtain college credit, or work toward professional certification.
“It connects the learning that happens in school with how it can benefit the student beyond school,” says Scott Reeves, executive director of secondary academic affairs for Westerville.
The curriculum is funded by a $14.4 million Straight A Fund grant from the state, along with investments from such entities as Battelle, JPMorgan Chase and Columbus State Community College. Though this is the first year Innovation Generation curriculum has been offered in schools, the Central Ohio Compact – a partnership among businesses, schools and the government, convened by Columbus State to improve from 30 to 60 the percentage of Ohio workers with education beyond high school by 2025 – was formed in 2012.
In Westerville, students can participate in three programs: business logistics, health career and advanced manufacturing and robotics.
From the outside, the most recognizable part of the Innovation Generation program is the MIT Mobile Fab Lab, used in the advanced manufacturing and robotics curriculum. Most school districts that participate have a Fab (short for “fabrication”) Lab packed with equipment that can either be used in the mobile classroom or removed for use in the schools themselves.
Among the equipment students can use are a 3-D printer, robotic arm, wood router, milling machine, lathe system and vinyl cutter. They have the chance to design and build a variety of things, from key chains and coins to vinyl stickers and 3-D playground models.
The advanced manufacturing and robotics classes are offered this year to seventh-graders, with curriculum expanding into later grades as students in the program get older. The lab visits each Westerville middle school twice per semester.
Not only does it introduce students to technology they might not otherwise have, the curriculum also fosters an interest in science among students who, up to that point, did not find the field appealing, says Anne Baldwin, career tech and college readiness coordinator for the school district.
Though specifically associated with the Innovation Generation curriculum, the Fab Lab and its equipment can be used by any teacher who knows how to use them.
The health curriculum is reflected in two high school-level courses: principles of biomedical science and human body systems. An additional course, medical interventions, will be offered for 2015-16. About 150 students are in the program now.
Course work includes using biology and medicine to study a fictional death through autopsy reports, medical history and treatments; building organs and tissues on a specialized mannequin; monitoring body functions through software; and utilizing gel electrophoresis to examine DNA strands.
“Students are doing science while they’re learning science,” says Baldwin.
Students following the health care pathway will be able to take Columbus State courses while still in high school and, eventually, earn accreditation as pharmacy technicians or clinical lab assistants.
Business logistics students have only one class to take in 2014-15: computer concepts and applications, offered at the high school level and providing dual credit with Columbus State. In 2015-16, supply chain management will be added to the curriculum, and students will be able to earn hours toward certification or an associate’s degree in the field, which is growing in popularity.
“Central Ohio is actually a logistics hub for the nation,” says Baldwin.
The district has been establishing partnerships with local businesses to provide real-world experience to students participating in Innovation Generation programs. Companies can host field trips, donate equipment, give presentations and even ask classes to work on solutions to industry-related problems.
“(Understanding) the logistics of a complex organization is an incredibly valuable skill,” says Reeves.
The district is working with businesses such as Polymer Ohio and the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Project as well as the Westerville and Columbus chambers of commerce to forge agreements and put together advisory boards for the Innovation Generation curriculum.
Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
