By GAIL LOWE
WAKEFIELD — Of all the jobs posted in Massachusetts in a three-month period, ending Thursday, Sept. 25, 32 percent were STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) positions.
In terms of salary, 49 percent of all jobs in occupations with median pay at $40,000 or more were STEM jobs and 60 percent of all jobs in occupations with median pay at or above $60,000 were STEM jobs.
These and other facts about the importance of promoting STEM subjects in schools were presented at last Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Three students in grade 6 spoke to members about what they are learning, including robotics and automation. Other learning areas include design and modeling in grades 7 and 8, coding in grades 5 through 8, introduction to computer programming in grades 9 through 12, advanced placement computer science in grades 10 through 12 and graphic design in grades 11 and 12.
The topic of enrollment was raised at the meeting and concern was expressed that more boys than girls are enrolled in STEM classes.
Science teacher Scott Lashmit said that in one of the high school STEM classes there are 39 students, and only four are girls.
A STEM showcase is in the works for next spring and a task force consisting of teachers, parents, coordinators and business partners will launch in January.
Recommendations by the task force will then be presented for the 2015-2016 academic year.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kim Smith noted the importance of getting students interested in science-related subjects in elementary school.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stephen K. Zrike backed Smith, and in a Power Point presentation he stated that “research indicates students identify with STEM (or not) before they leave elementary school, making it important to provide exposure and build interest early on in students’ experience.”
Smith also pointed out that math and science are overlapping subjects, including making sense of problems and persevering in solving them, building a strong base of knowledge through content rich texts and planning, analyzing and interpreting data.
Art also plays a strong role in STEM, mentioned school board member Anne Danehy.
“STEM is a great field to go into,” she said, adding that these subjects relate to many industry lines, including advertising and public relations, the field in which Danehy works.
Where college and career readiness is concerned, Zrike said students will be prepared to analyze scientific phenomena and solve technical problems in real-world contexts using relevant science and engineering practices and disciplinary core ideas. Students will also use appropriate scientific and technical reasoning to support, critique and communicate scientific and technical claims and decisions and appropriately apply relevant mathematics in scientific and technical contexts.
Since 2009, Gov. Deval Patrick has supported and promoted goals for improving Massachusetts schools and preparing the workforce for the jobs of tomorrow and school districts such as Wakefield’s are taking the lead.
Samples of STEM jobs found in Forbes magazine include chemical engineer (starting salary, $65,900), network security analyst ($64,000), software developer ($61,300) and computer hardware engineer ($62,900).
