Tuesday, April 26, 2016


My wife and I are fortunate enough to have our children in a school district that affords them opportunities to stretch themselves intellectually.  It’s public school and having your kids in a public school system isn’t without its drama.  Typically, the curriculum is taught at a level equivalent to the lowest common denominator.  And I shouldn’t judge, but there is always a cost prohibitive forcing function which can limit the lower threshold of such denominators in the private school system.  Opting for public schools can put downward pressure on the forcing function.  But on the flip side, the oft experienced air of entitlement from private school is removed when entrenched in the public school system.

I’m not here to debate socioeconomic effects on demographics in the public school system and the resultant effects on the core curriculum and the delivery of educational services.  That’s for PTA moms, educators, and legislators to debate.  What I’m hoping to impress upon you is the importance of a specific set of curriculum that’s a necessity in your child’s life.  More importantly, it’s a necessity in our lives.  One word.  STEM.  OK, it’s really four words.  Five, if you count the word ‘and.’ Let’s not get semantic on this.

Over the last few months, I’ve been cracking the whip on Grom #1 and his two buddies.  I was overseeing the development of their STEM 2016 project.  And while the coordination of said project has compromised both my patience and time, it’s become wildly apparent the value of such an opportunity for these rugrats and the dire need for an enriching STEM curriculum across the proverbial board of all schools.

You see, I’m an engineer.  I like making stuff and breaking stuff.  Ask my parents, I took everything apart.  If it wasn’t bolted down, I took it apart.  If it was bolted down, I removed the bolts and used them in my next great invention.  And while doing all of that, I typically lost my dad’s tools.  So of course I may be a ‘slight’ bit biased.  All biases aside, what I do know is that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics are the building blocks for so very many aspects of our world.

Look around.  Someone dreamt it, designed it, invented it, tested it, cured it and calculated it for us.  Everything.

The odds of your kid being the next Russell Wilson or Russell Westbrook are pretty long.  Even if they do succeed in professional athletics, the odds are even longer that they will influence the world in any more than a pop-cultural dimension (think Lamar Odom).  Something no more than a passing fancy or tabloid fodder.

But the odds of your kid influencing the world by way of designing something new, making life easier, developing new technologies, exploring space, reducing greenhouse emissions, purifying water sources in 3rd world countries, developing future alternative power cell technologies, programming the next great smart phone app, or whatever are much more in your favor if you expose your kids to STEM opportunities.  We need visionaries.  We need futurists.  We need technology that enables change and betterment.  We are not promised tomorrow on this slab of a rock slinging itself through space and time.  Despite what some may believe, the resources here are finite.

I don’t care if you believe in a big scary monster that lives in the sky who created this planet in a couple of days or believe in a 50,000 year old warrior who infest host bodies in Yelm.  It doesn’t matter to me.  What you need to believe in is that we need change, change for the better.  We need a prosperous future.  Our kids can help bring that if given the right opportunities.  Please. Donate your time, your money or your voice to the cause of keeping accessibility to STEM curriculum and activities.  Yes, every year it’s a drag to work on a science fair project with your kid.  Trust me, I begrudgingly volunteer to support my kids’ in this.  But once my sleeves are rolled up and we’re intellectually invested into the project, things don’t get much more appealing.  Most parents would rather check out of parenting and check in on Facebook.

Give your child the opportunity to explore STEM curriculum.  The challenges, the learning, and the outcomes can make a difference.  And if instead they choose to herd goats in the far reaches of Katmandu, at least they will know how to count their goats.

We can’t drill and burn our way out of our problems.  But we can invest and invent our way out of them.

Better yet….check out these links.  Get inspired by them.

LEGO Paper Airplane Machine

LEGO Paper Airplane Machine – Behind the Scenes

The Age of Aerospace

The Above and Beyond Exhibition
http://aboveandbeyondexhibition.com

STEM 2016 Technology Project - The Legoonies by JRK Films
https://youtu.be/ltPcBSbx-_A

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