13 signs that you really should be going to The Dayton Regional STEM School

Ever wondered if The Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) is right for you? There's much more to The Dayton Regional STEM school than just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Here are some signs that maybe you should give it some serious thought.

 1. You love projects. Especially hands-on ones where you learn by doing. 

At DRSS, students engage in project-based learning (PBL) in each grade and in all classes and content areas. The school is well-known for its PBL approach, and even hosts an annual conference called the Project:WRIGHT Symposium in which PBL is a major theme.

 

2. You think STEM is great and all, but you still love the arts and humanities.

It might be hard to believe, but DRSS has a nationally recognized arts program. In 2015, DRSS was one of just eight schools from across the nation invited to the White House to meet with the Director of Making after winning a $10,000 grant in support of its "model integration of the arts and STEM (STEAM) program."
Watch a short video about the arts program here.

 

3. You wish that math was a team sport.

Middle school students at DRSS use a math curriculum called "Connected Math," which is a three-year program designed to issue Algebra I credit to students at the end of their 8th grade year. There are many opportunities, like MathCounts, for students to pursue their passion for mathematics outside the classroom as well.
Most of students' actual math classwork is done in team-based groups.

 

4. You love robots.

Robots are a big thing at DRSS (even the DRSS mascot, Ace the Innovator, is a robot), and DRSS has both FIRST Lego League (FLL) robotics teams and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams that participate in competition regularly. Follow them on Twitter @DRSSRobotics.

 

5. You'd like to be on the #1 Cyber Patriots team in the state.

The DRSS Cyber Patriots team met with Lt. General William Bender, Chief Information Officer of the United States Air Force, after taking 1st place in state competition in 2014/2015. Read more about the Cyber Patriots team here.

 

6. You see connections across the curriculum.

Cross-curricular content integration is the norm at DRSS, not the exception. Students routinely work on projects across different content areas at the school. As just one of many recent examples, check out this short video on the Plate Tectonics project, involving Science, Language Arts, and STEM Foundations.

 

7. You think learning Chinese would be pretty cool.

DRSS students take a minimum of two years in Chinese, although many students take up to four or five years with the option to earn college credit for their upper-level Chinese courses. For the last two years students have performed a Chinese dance at Wright State University's Chinese Immersion Day.

 

8. You like the idea of having classmates from all across the Miami Valley.

The Dayton Regional STEM School is truly regional, with over 620 students coming from seven counties and over 30 districts. DRSS promotes an Accepting Culture for Everyone (ACE), and the diverse student population serves as the cornerstone of the school's culture.

 

9. You like using computers in school... like, a LOT.

DRSS has had a one-to-one netbook program for all high school students since it was founded in 2009, and it's close to having a one-to-one program at the middle school level. While computers are important, they don't drive instruction, they enhance it. Students learn 21st-century skills, as well as specific programs like Maya 3D animation, AutoCAD, and Inventor.

 

10. You think Wright State University is great for the Dayton region.

A lesser-known fact about the school is that it was actually founded by Wright State University and maintains close ties to WSU. All DRSS teachers and staff members are WSU employees, and many DRSS students do their job shadowing or internship experiences at the university. All students have WSU email addresses and use Wright State's course management system regularly in their classes. While our students go to many different colleges and universities, there are a number of scholarships available only to DRSS alumni for those who choose to pursue a degree there.

 

11. You're ready to start working with industry professionals now and want to do an internship while you're still in high school.

DRSS has a strong career exploration program that focuses on providing students with real world experiences. During their time at DRSS students will experience seven career fairs, two job shadowing experiences, and one 72-hour internship experience (at a minimum). See pictures from the most recent Job Shadow day on Facebook here.

 

12. Instead of going to class the last two weeks of school, you'd rather just do cool projects or travel with your friends all day. 

STEMmersion is an experience unique to DRSS where students take the final two and a half weeks of school to go to one all-day immersive class. Courses are new each year and include everything from spelunking to crime scene investigation to geocaching on bikes across Dayton. Some students have even traveled overseas to China, Costa Rica, and Italy during STEMmersion!

 

13. You're looking for a tuition-free public STEM school that will prepare you for the real world.

The Dayton Regional STEM School's motto is The Real World Starts Here. Check out this video to learn more about what that looks like and hear directly from students and teachers what a STEM education means to them.

The Dayton Regional STEM School is a tuition-free public STEM school located in Kettering, Ohio serving grades 6-12. Want to learn more about whether or not The Dayton Regional STEM School is right for you? There are a number of options. There's an Exhibition Night that is open to the public taking place on December 8th, 2016 from 5-7PM. Beginning on December 1st, 2016, students can also schedule a visit and shadow another student for a half day and experience what an actual school day entails. Another way to learn about the school is to register to attend an Information Session, or check out our website's "What to Expect" page.  The Dayton Regional STEM School is also active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you're ready to attend DRSS, visit www.daytonstemschool.org/apply and apply to become an Innovator today!

DRSS Students Serve as STEM Ambassadors with ThinkTV!

As part of the Dayton Regional Science Festival, DRSS students traveled as "STEM Ambassadors" to River's Edge Montessori in a partnership with Think TV to help teach the students there about light. They were aided by episodes of Sid the Science Kid's television show. During their visit the DRSS students helped do labs for the children. It was a fun day of peer-to-peer instruction! Check out pictures from their visit below!

The visit was a great opportunity for peer-to-peer instruction.

DRSS students taught lessons that were tied to Think TV's Sid the Science Kid children's program.

Special thanks to Greg Schell of Think TV for arranging the visit.

DRSS students put on labs for the students at River's Edge

DRSS student Brian Bollinger teaches students about light refraction with a glass of water and a straw.

Alyssa Egbert runs one of the labs for the students of River's Edge.

9th Graders Visit Two Dayton Gems

On Friday, November 6th, DRSS students went on an exciting engineering field trip to two Dayton landmarks: The Dayton Engineers Club and the Sinclair Community College Unmanned Aerial Systems Laboratory.

Students tour the Engineers Club of Dayton

When students arrived they were treated to a tour of the club, where they had a chance to see all of the historic rooms like the Shaw Library, the Wright Room, the Wedgwood Room, and the Hall of Fame, which was the primary reason for their visit. They also learned about many of the famous Dayton inventors like Charles Kettering, Edward Deeds, and, of course, the Wright Brothers. Students also learned about some of the lesser-known Dayton inventions, like Margaret Andrew's dishwasher rack, Arthur Frei's ice-cube tray, and Ermal Fraze's pop-top tab for cans.

The students got an introduction to the Engineers Club before heading on a tour of the historic building

The tour started off in the Hall of Fame

Tom Mastbaum shows the students around

Students learn about the Dayton inventions that put the city on the map!

Students check out the pop-top pull tab, a Dayton invention

Checking out the library

After their tour, students attended a lecture in the auditorium to hear about the three 2015 inductees to the Hall of Fame. Two were posthumous inductions - Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone) and John W. Lincoln (for his work in aircraft structural technology). Students heard from relatives of both. Edwin Grosvenor, great-grandson of Bell, told the students a story about how Bell's path to the creation of the telephone included a talking skull that Bell created! The third inductee, Professor Bradford W. Parkinson of Stanford University, (the father of the GPS system) was there in person to give a lecture to the students. Professor Parkinson's advice to students was to "learn scarce skills," because you never know when they will apply to a project you are working on.

Students heard from Professor Bradford Parkinson, father of GPS technology

Students also heard from the great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, Edward Grosvenor

Special thanks to Engineers Club members Tom Mastbaum and Brian Sullivan for coordinating the trip and the tours, and to the Engineers Club for generously covering transportation costs for the trip. 

After their visit to the Engineers Club, students hopped back on the buses and traveled to the brand new Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Laboratory at Sinclair Community College, where they were given tours of the labs by Assistant Professor Benjamin Sears and UAS Program Coordinator Ryan Palm. Students then had a tour of the training and certification center, including a stop in the flight simulation lab, where they took turns trying to fly simulated quad copters and planes. Special thanks to Dr. Andrew Shepherd for inviting the students and coordinating their visit to the labs.

Ryan Palm shows the kids around the labs

Ben Sears shows students one of the quad copters printed with the help of Tangible Solutions, a company students went to for job shadow day!

Students spent some time in the flight simulations labs too!

The lab has quite the assortment of planes and helicopters inside the building!

Thank you to everyone who made these trips possible. The students had a great visit to both Dayton gems!

DRSS Studies the Dayton Peace Accords

With the Dayton peace accords 20th anniversary fast approaching (and national and international leaders descending upon Dayton soon), students at the Dayton Regional STEM School are learning about the important role played by the city in helping to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Bosnia. These lessons are taking place in a number of classes and extra-curricular opportunities.

10th graders begin their study of conflicts and genocides of the 20th century in world history and language arts. Some students will be reading the book "Safe Area Gorazde," a graphic novel about the Bosnian Genocide. 

In 10th grade, students in Mr. Nuñez's world history classes and Ms. Reid's language arts classes have just begun their unit on Conflicts and Genocides of the 20th Century. On Wednesday, Ms. Reid and Mr. Nuñez co-taught their history and language arts classes to introduce their students to each of the topics they would be studying within the unit, including the Bosnian genocide. Eventually, students will create posters memorializing a past conflict or genocide and/or calling attention to a current, ongoing one around the world today. Check out this article from the United to End Genocide organization to learn more about the project, which is in its 6th year at DRSS.

Students began learning about some of the key players in the Bosnian Genocide.

Also on Wednesday, students in the the DRSS chapter of the Dayton Junior Council on World Affairs traveled to Sinclair Community College for a special presentation regarding the Dayton Peace Accords.  The topic of the day was “Dayton Peace Accords: 20 Years Later.” There were three sessions. In the first session, students learned about the topic of genocide from Dr. Katherine Rowell of Sinclair. In the second, they studied the Bosnian Conflict in particular. In the third, Dr. William Ayres of Wright State University gave a lecture on the issues, problems, outcomes, and current challenges of the Dayton Peace Accords today.  Students had the opportunity to pose questions to each presenter and discuss the topic.  Over 150 students from 10 different schools participated in the event.

Students listened to presenters for part of the day.

Students also participated in debate sessions and are seen here plotting arguments for their presentations.

Ray Hampton presented his team's argument at the end of the day about how to prevent genocide moving forward.

Students heard from Dr. Rowell about the 8 Stages of Genocide, something that they also learn in their world history class at DRSS.

More DRSS JCOWA members!

Mr. Lydy and some of the newer members of our JCOWA team!

DRSS is also involved in the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords through current DRSS junior, Joel Baker. Joel designed the logo that is going to be used for the ceremony. Joel entered the logo contest last year, which was sponsored by the local arts organization, Culture Works.  He and his parents, Amanda and Daniel Baker, along with his former 10th grade history teacher, Arch Grieve, have been invited to attend two of the events taking place between November 18th and 21st. Congratulations Joel!

An excerpt from the Culture Works summer newsletter about Joel's award - Congratulations Joel!

For more information on the celebrations taking place, as well as some of the national and international VIPs who will be in attendance (including former President Bill Clinton), check out this story from the Dayton Daily News, and watch our Facebook page for updates!

Alumna Spotlight - Ysmeen Jilani

Today we are shining the spotlight on one of our DRSS alumni, Ysmeen Jilani, who was a member of the first DRSS graduating class back in 2013. Ysmeen is pursuing a degree in Athletic Training and Physical Therapy at Wilmington, although currently she is attending classes at Sinclair Community Colleges to earn credits that will transfer to her program at Wilmington. Currently she is taking a Medical Terminology class, a Philosophy course, and an Algebra course. While going to school, she is also working as a math tutor at Sinclair's Math Academy, where she helps fellow college students struggling with math homework.

Ysmeen Jilani, Class of 2013, came in to work with current DRSS students during the month of October.

Ysmeen was actually back at DRSS twice in the past couple of weeks, once to attend the first-ever DRSS alumni homecoming party, and a second time to volunteer with current DRSS students by providing them with feedback on their Plate Tectonics project.

During her visit, Ysmeen was one of many DRSS alumni and community volunteers who came to critique student work.

While she was here, she couldn't help but reminisce about some of the classes she took at DRSS that helped her prepare for college. "Ms. Reid did a great job of teaching the terms I'm using in my  Medical Terminology class. Whenever a professor breaks something down, you can use those Latin or Greek words anywhere. Ms. Reid saved me on that!"

Ysmeen also believes that the internship experience she completed with Rob Dement, who at the time was the Athletic Director of West Carrollton, (and now Athletic Director at Centerville) gave her a "better idea of what it takes to go into the athletics world, particularly from the business side and from the trainer point of view." Ysmeen completed this experience during her DRSS-required high school internship experience, and in the process learned about the day-to-day demands of the job, like handling money, communicating with other schools, and handling the problems that athletic directors have to deal with every day.

Ysmeen stays active volunteering as well, and she does a lot with her church. At the Living Word Church, in Vandalia, she helps with the youth program known as "Impact," primarily working with 9th-12th graders as a mentor. She also helps teach them lessons about responsibility. In discussing the importance of the program, Ysmeen reflected that "the way I've seen the students change is dramatic, the program has had a huge impact on their life." She enjoys being able to give the students a perspective of someone who has been there and is able to provide advice.

When asked about what it's like coming back to the school to volunteer, Ysmeen said, "it's definitely different! Seeing the way the school has grown since I started to attend here in 2009 is a different atmosphere, especially since it goes from grades 6-12 now. There's more opportunity as the school keeps growing, and there are more ways for students to get involved past graduation."

Ysmeen came back with Kiera Cindric (left) and Evan Schultz (right) after a call went out on the DRSS Alumni Network looking for alumni volunteers. Thank you to all of our awesome alumni for their help!

We are gratful for Ysmeen's involvement at DRSS, and are thankful for all of our alumni who have come back to volunteer at the school!

If you're a DRSS alum who is looking to get involved, please contact Community Outreach Director, Arch Grieve, and ask about being added to the DRSS Alumni Network! You can reach him at arch.grieve@wright.edu.

Ms. Montgomery and Mr. Mellon Go To Washington (and the White House!)

Yesterday was an exciting day for Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) art teacher, Jenny Montgomery, and DRSS junior, Keshawn Mellon. They traveled to Washington D.C. to be honored by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, the Americans for the Arts, and the Ovation Foundation! To read a complete article about the award, check out this article from the Wright State Newsroom! Continue reading for exclusive pictures from their travels.

Left to Right: Bob Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts; Rep. Elyse Stefanik; Jenny Lin Montgomery; Keshawn Mellon; Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Rachel Goslins, executive director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities; Jessica Yaz, director of Corporate Relations, Ovation TV for The Ovation Foundation.

The follow video provides an overview of the grant that the school received, which amounted to $10,000. DRSS was one of just eight schools nationally to receive the award.

The grant was awarded to DRSS in recognition of DRSS's "model STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program." The grant was created specifically to raise awareness of the value of integrating arts into STEM curricula. You can learn more about the award itself and the other schools who received it on the innOVATION STEAM Grant website.

Below you will find highlights from their journey:

The day kicked off bright and early with a White House prep session at the Americans for the Arts' DC office.

At the AFTA session, Ms. Montgomery and Keshawn practiced for their meeting with the White House Office of Science and Technology!

After preparing, it was time to hoof it over to the White House...

...where they, of course, had to be checked in by the Secret Service!

On the way in they had a moment to take a selfie in the Rose Garden!

They also had time for a bit more formal one.

Once inside, Keshawn and Ms. Montgomery both presented to a group led by Stephanie Santoso, Senior White House Advisor for Making, where they discussed the importance of the DRSS's STEAM program and shared experiences of projects they worked on, like the Living Lens Project.

Pictured here are all of the award recipients from across the country. Learn more about each of their programs by checking out this YouTube video.

On the way over to the Longworth House Office Building Cafeteria (where lunch was served), they had a little time for sightseeing.

Keshawn also had time to enjoy the M&M candy souvenirs that the White House gives their guests!

Before testifying to the STEAM Caucus, they stopped at Congressman Turner's office, where Keshawn was given a congressional coin by Congressman Turner.

Finally, after testifying to the STEAM caucus, they had a reception where they were given the award in person.

At The Dayton Regional STEM School we are proud to have a strong arts program that is integrated into every aspect of our school. This is due in large part to our outstanding art teacher, Jenny Montgomery, whose passion, creativity, and dedication to her students and the school truly make DRSS worthy of national recognition.

Learn more about The Dayton Regional STEM School on our website at www.daytonstemschool.org.