Science in High Schools

The Times had a nice article about the high school robotics competition that happened over the weekend at Key Arena. That is if you can get past the first two paragraphs:

It takes a special kid to get excited about engineering.

Even if their hearts cry out for angles and gears, their peers often call out "nerd" and "geek," and the thrill dies.

For Pete's sake, enough with the belief that any kid interested in math or science is a nerd or geek. It's just pathetic and by writing these same old tired beliefs, journalists keep them alive.

For all the mohawks and plastic gladiator caps, there was learning going on at Seattle's FIRST Robotics Competition. It is the event's second year in Seattle, after one year in Tacoma.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a New Hampshire nonprofit that organizes techie competitions to encourage kids to major in engineering and other sciences.

The robotics competition entry fee is $6,000 and includes basic parts for a robot. Teams line up their own corporate sponsors and throw fundraisers.

Many teams spend considerably more spiffing up their machines and promoting themselves with T-shirts, Web sites and other gewgaws. Selling their product is part of the competition, just like in the business world.

Boeing project engineer Darin Gee laments that schools do not financially back the program like they do football, baseball and basketball — endeavors few students will do professionally.

I thought that last line was interesting because over in Bellevue at their budget forums, the district laid out losing wrestling, swimming and tennis but what about the biggest cost football? (Yes, I know boosters pay for a lot but it is not cost-free.) Maybe we should encourage kids to be interested in activities that add to what they are learning. (Not discounting arts or sports but kids are in school for academics.)

This from the comments:

On the other side of the Sound, 342 students showed off their science and engineering projects in Bremerton Friday & Saturday at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair.

Comments

SolvayGirl said…
Melissa. I agree with your assessment until the end. I think visual art is fast becoming an "academic" endeavor. Journalism is now a multi-media profession (my alma mater offers a degree in journalism that includes web design, photography and visual art), and many business people are responsible for developing reports with visuals, etc. Graphic design and publishing (as you know) are viable fields, and drawing (aka illustration) is also a marketable skill. So I would not discount art as something that shouldn't be supported by schools—at least I wouldn't put it in the same league as sports. Yes, some kids may go on to become sports stars, and sports can get kids college scholarships, but I'll bet there are a lot more working artists than there are football players.
3/28/10, 9:45 PM
Maureen said…
For Pete's sake, enough with the belief that any kid interested in math or science is a nerd or geek. It's just pathetic and by writing these same old tired beliefs, journalists keep them alive.

GEEKS RULE

Obviously, journalists are insecure.
3/28/10, 10:53 PM
Unknown said…
I agree with Maureen. The term Nerd and Geek are being taken up with pride by large sections of young adult and youth society. It is nerdy to love robots and it's geeky to learn how to build them. What the article doesn't mention is that when you take your Nerdiness and add some Geek credentials that equates to a whole lot of AWESOME!
3/29/10, 10:26 PM
hschinske said…
It's one thing if people claim the words nerd and geek proudly. It's quite another to throw them around on the *assumption* that kids who are interested in science will be nerdy or geeky. For one thing, those words heavily imply that there is a "type" who is interested in science -- a "type" that, among other things, conveniently happens not to include a whole lot of poor kids or kids of color, and is pretty short on girls.

We're losing scientists to such stereotypes, and, almost more important, we're losing science literacy.

Helen Schinske
3/30/10, 6:16 AM
Lloyd from OfficeDeskReviews said…
I totally agree with Maureen. Neither does an interest imply a full dedication, nor does it state a fixation.
Lloyd,
officedeskreviews.com
4/1/10, 12:48 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more