DRSS Students Experience Med School

 By Maya Quale

Ms. Campbell’s Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) students had the chance on Friday November 18, to visit Wright State’s Medical School, the Boonshoft School of Medicine. Anatomy and Physiology is a one credit, year-long elective course that juniors and seniors at DRSS can take. The anatomy portion of the course is learning the different parts of the body, and physiology is discovering how those parts function together.

During their field trip to Boonshoft, four Wright State undergraduate students were gracious enough to take time out of their busy days to teach students about the body systems, show various organs, and demonstrate using a cadaver (dead body). Because there were only two hours spent there, students were taught in a timely manner. 

Students were able to learn about six of the eleven body systems: respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, skeletal, urinary, and the digestive. After each system was presented, the medical students would display an organ that DRSS students were able to handle and inquire about. For example, after the cardiovascular system was explained, students were then able to handle a human heart.

With about half an hour left, students were split into four groups took turns observing four cadavers. The cadavers that the undergraduate students practiced learning with were ones that the medical students had dissected and were intact. DRSS students were given the chance to study these cadavers while Wright States’ students articulated knowledge about what was just learned. Once that was complete, DRSS students completed a survey about their experience at Boonshoft and returned to DRSS.

Going to the Boonshoft School of Medicine was a very enjoyable trip where DRSS students were able to take the knowledge that they had gained from taking Anatomy and Physiology and implement it in a real-life situation rather than looking at pictures. 11^th grade student, Bendic Pacia says, “I thought it was really interesting to see what happens to the bodies that people donate to science. It was a very enjoyable experience.” 

For visual learners, this was a very beneficial field trip that progressed them in their learning endeavor because they could better understand how the human body articulates using real 3-D models. A&P students will progress their learning endeavor by studying the muscular system next.

Tech Reading & Writing Covers Cover Letters

By Chloe Johnson

November 23, 2016

As a continuation from my previous story about Technical Reading and Writing class, the juniors are now finishing up creating cover letters. The Technical Reading and Writing course is taken by juniors and teaches students about communicating concise and specific information.

As a part of their professional/business communication unit, the juniors created resumes, and they are now finishing their cover letters. The professional/business communication unit is about writing pieces between employers and employees. Students created these cover letters to go along with their resumes. 

The resumes and cover letters are to help the juniors locate and secure potential internship locations. Most students will not have to submit a cover letter with their resume to an internship location, but their cover letters can be a template for emails, interviews, or any other types of communications with potential internship hosts.

Students were first introduced to cover letters by Nikki Greenwood on November 1^st and 2^nd when she presented to the Technical Reading and Writing classes. During her presentation, she stated, “Cover letters take the same skills and experiences as the resumes and expand on them.” Ms. Greenwood, also said, “Don’t repeat the resume in paragraph form and use personality within the cover letter.” 

One of my favorite tips for the cover letter from Ms. Greenwood was, “Do specific research on the business to show interest and curiosity for the job.” When Mrs. McDaniel, the Technical Reading and Writing teacher, reintroduced the cover letters to the students, she repeated some of the key tips.

At first, the students learned about the STAR technique. STAR stands for "situation, task, action, and result." Each student chose one experience from their resume and expanded on it using the STAR method. For example, I personally chose newsroom to expand on. 

My STAR method was “as a junior, I was selected to be my school’s newspaper’s editor-in-chief. Three times a week in the morning, we meet with our instructor to go over the stories, marketing, and current events for that week. On a weekly basis, there are at least three stories being uploaded.”

Once the students began using the STAR method, they used templates and looked at examples of other cover letters. Within a cover letter, there are three sections including: introduction, argument, and closing. The introduction explains the purpose of the cover letter and who the student is, the argument explains why the student has the qualifications to obtain the internship, and the closing states the actions the student will take after getting in contact with the potential internship.

The students gave each other feedback on both content and grammar for the cover letter. The information was required to fit onto one page and had to correspond with the same design as the resumes. 

When asked what he learned during this experience, Dylan Flippo, a junior at DRSS, said, “Through this experience, I learned how to write about my skills that will benefit employers.” When asked how this will help him for the future, Dylan stated, “I want to be a nurse. I believe this experience will better help me convey conditions to the patients and state things concisely.” Dylan also added “The business/professional communication unit was a really good project because it helps students have a basis for their resumes and cover letters for the future.” 

The final due date for the cover letters was Monday, November 28, 2016. Afterwards, the students will move on to participating in an interview workshop during their professional/business communications unit.

Get Your TEDx Youth On!

DRSS alumni, Shari Gordnier, presenting at the 2015 TEDx Youth at Dayton conference

By Neeti Prasad, 8^th Grade

2017 is coming up soon and there are so many exciting things to look forward to in the next year. This also means that this year’s TEDx conference is coming up soon.

TED started out as a conference in 1985 which brought together technology, entertainment, and design. TED developed to talk about all topics from science related topics to global issues. TED talks allow people to explore a topic that they want to learn more about. Whether you want to figure out why you should talk to strangers or how to grow new brain cells, there will be a TED talk video waiting to be watched.

Dayton has organized a TEDx conference for students from local schools to come together and talk about a topic that they are interested in or a topic that they want more awareness on. The Dayton Regional STEM School has been part of this event in the past and we are excited to send our student speakers for the conference this year. It’s not only students representing our school at DRSS our teachers are also representing us. Ms. Schultz and Mrs.Poppaw are on the 2017 TEDx Youth Dayton Committee with five other teachers from local schools.

Last year, Alex T. Smith and Shari Gordnier were chosen to speak at the 2016 TEDx Youth event. Alex talked about how our voice really does have an impact when electing leaders for political positions. This talk is more relatable for many people after this year’s election! Shari’s presentation was about the importance of doing scientific research. 

Ms.Poppaw also said that “The auditions for speakers have already taken place but we are still accepting applications for performers, attendees, and volunteers.” Is there a topic that you are passionate about and want to share your ideas with others? Well in that case, consider applying to become a speaker at this event.  

Tech Reading & Writing Resumes Resume Project

By Chloe Johnson

November 18, 2016 - “The real world starts here” is a phrase that every student at Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) hears and sees as soon as they walk through the doors. As a junior, students will take a Technical Reading and Writing course. This class teaches students a style of writing that is concise but specific. 

During the second quarter, juniors were introduced to professional/business communication. This type of writing is used in a business setting between employers and employees. At first, students created career exploration reports. The purpose of these reports was to analyze potential career fields and locate potential internships related to the careers, which each student must complete before they graduate. Next, students created resumes to use in their future endeavors.

To begin the unit on resumes, students listened to a presentation by Nikki Greenwood on November 1^st and 2^nd. During the presentation, Ms. Greenwood addressed what a resume is, explained what different types of resumes look like, what a cover letter is, and how to effectively use a portfolio. 

Ms. Greenwood said, “Resumes are living breathing documents.” This means the resumes will change over the course of the students’ lives as they experience more employment opportunities. Some of Ms. Greenwood’s tips included: add things that make you stand out, always update the resume, look at the job requirements and speak to those, and send a thank you note after interviews to make them remember you.

Once the students listened to the presentation, they started brainstorming about potential experiences to include in their resumes. During this activity, students were free to include all of their high school experiences and instructed to include any middle school experience.  If students participated in clubs or activities that continued from middle school to high school, such as Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts, they were encouraged to include this in their resume. 

Taryn Hughes, a junior at DRSS, said, “I included that I was a part of Key Club, but most of the activities I do are outside of STEM.” A majority of students in the junior class participate in extracurricular activities, both in and outside of school. These activities included: sports, robotics, work experiences, clubs at STEM, DRSS Newsroom, Key Club (an organization for volunteering), and more. 

There were three types of resumes that were presented including skill-based, reverse chronological, or a hybrid of the two. When brainstorming for the resumes, the students tailored their resumes to a specific internship location, so this is how they made their decisions to choose which experiences to include.

Mrs. McDaniel, the Technical Reading and Writing teacher, then gave a presentation on the requirements for the resume. All students needed to include an objective, contact information, experiences, and two optional sections. These optional sections could include: study abroad, languages, hobbies & interests, volunteering, certifications, honors & awards, etc. 

For the next two weeks, students worked on revising the content within their resumes and formatting their information. The information must fit onto one page, and it could not be "scrunched up." Furthermore, all students received feedback from Mrs. McDaniel and their peers. 

The final due date for the resumes was Wednesday, November 16, 2016. Afterwards, the students will move on to creating cover letters during their professional/business communications unit. The school's focus on "soft skills," such as resume writing, is just one of the examples of how DRSS prepares students for success in their future careers.

Students in Builders Club Construct a Food Drive

Students are collecting food from the requested donations list each morning from now through November 22.

By Saarah Brock
 

If you have not heard, Builders Club is a student volunteer organization that began at the Dayton Regional STEM School this year. Builders Club is a middle school version of Kiwanas International.  

Middle school students who are in the club meet every Monday after school to work on different volunteer projects, like Care Kits and Project Linus. The students also have a High School program named Key Club.  

Recently, the students have been working on a food drive. The food drive is going on now and will end November 22nd.  Students who are part of the Builder Club will come before and after school to help run it.  

To promote the drive, students offer a raffle ticket for every 10 items brought in by students, which they can then enter for a chance to win a pizza party for themselves and five of their friends. The winning grade level will get to watch a movie during lunch. The winning advisory will also get a reward.  

All products will go to St. Vincent de Paul to help children and adults in need. Students can bring in canned foods as well as other food products (packaged). They can also bring in paper plates, bowls, cups, and other similar products. Find a complete list of donation needs here. People need our help, so please donate today!

PBL Puts the "Fun" in Fundraising

By Apurva Makote

The 8^th graders at STEM have recently finished a fundraising project for the school. The purpose of the project was to help with improving the former Dollar General space. As the students worked on the project they had to try to answer the driving question: "How will DRSS provide opportunities for families, volunteers, and other interested parties to participate in the fundraising necessary for expanding our facilities?"

They started the project by first creating a case statement about why their selected donors should donate money to DRSS. Then they created three different donation plans that potential donors could choose from while donating. The three plans were a one-time donation of a certain amount, a monthly donation plan, and a membership + monthly donation. Each group was assigned to create plans for one of the following locations:

-       IT Collaboration Space

-       Engineering and Manufacturing Center

-       3D Printing and Laser Cutting Center

-       Auditorium & Presentation Space

-       Classrooms

-       Conference Rooms

After the students created the case and donor plans they created a final product (website, video, PowerPoint, etc.) that could be shown to potential donors to help them choose which of the three donation plans they are going to use. During the project students learned about slope intercept form and how to write the equation of a line given a scenario.

“We decided to try this project this year because we wanted our first 8th grade Algebra I students to be engaged in a real-world understanding of this new content” said Ms. Vazquez, an 8^th grade math teacher at DRSS. “I hope that students can begin to appreciate the opportunities they have here at DRSS and realize that this type of educational experience is actually quite expensive. Even more than that, I also hope they realize how much support they have from the community around them - we all want what’s best for them. And, of course, I also want them to walk away understanding linear relationships at a foundational level.”

You can see their work (along with other projects) on display at our upcoming Exhibition Night on December 8, 2016, from 5-7PM. This event is free and open to the entire community.

Junior Council on World Affairs Kicks Off Year with International Career Fair

2016 Junior Council on World Affairs at Sinclair

By Maya Quale

November 18, 2016 - The Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) JCOWA (Junior Council on World Affairs) team, "JAWS COMET" (an acronym for "STEM + JCOWA") kicked off this year by going to Sinclair Community College to attend an International Career Fair. 

The Dayton Junior Council on World Affairs (JCOWA) has students not only from DRSS, but also Ponitz, Wilmington, Chaminade Julienne, and others. The event started with an introduction from a counselor from Stiver’s School for the Arts about getting ready for college. 

While there, students also had the opportunity to hear from 24 different speakers about their jobs and international travel. There was a woman from the University of Dayton who was involved with their study abroad program, a dentist from a private practice, a respiratory therapist from Kettering College, and many more. 

Students were able to hear from six people for 13 minutes each. 11^th grade student Devin Wade found it to be an enlightening experience, saying “I thought it was very interesting to learn about the various career paths.” 

International Career Day was very successful because of the knowledge obtained about the various options students can take to travel at any time in their career. Thank you to Sinclair Community College for hosting the event and the Dayton Rotary Club for giving a generous grant to DCOWA.

International Internship Opportunity Opens Up

Let us know you're coming by signing up for the Information Session Event on Facebook.

By: Rachael Stowe

Anyone who is a student at STEM, especially a high school student, knows that an internship is a graduation requirement. This internship is required to be a minimum of 72 hours and is set in place to help students gain more experience in career fields and in the real world as they move on from high school into college and then society and eventually the job market.

INTERA Technology Park is located in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

There are many options for internships in local areas, but an exciting new opportunity has arisen for completing both an internship and a study-abroad trip in one setting. This opportunity is a trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina, specifically a city called Mostar. This is a rare opportunity to learn valuable skills in a new and exciting environment. Participants would first complete a STEMmersion in which students from Mostar would come to Dayton and create relationships with people here. Students would then go back to Mostar with the students and participate in the two-week internship experience at ITERA Technology Park. 

Students who participate in the experience will get many hands-on opportunities, including the chance to learn about CNC machining and entrepreneurship.

Students will learn many crucial and interesting skills during this opportunity, including international business. This experience would give participants an exclusive view into the ins-and-outs of international business, as well as the ability to compare these practices to those in the United States. They would also get experience working with laser cutting, 3D printing and CNC machinery. People who travel to Mostar would also get the chance to visit local colleges, explore scenery and even intern with local small businesses who call INTERA Technology Park "home."

A river runs through the heart of Mostar, and the city is a tourist destination for over 1,000,000 tourists each year.

The seeds of the internship exchange were planted over the summer, when Mr. Grieve traveled with Mayor Nan Whaley, Commissioner Matt Joseph, and the Dayton Sister City Committee to Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The experience would include STEMmersion, with the actual trip being during the dates of June 2nd-June 16 (final dates TBD). In terms of cost, the approximate cost of the trip would be around $3,000. However, the hope is that sponsorships would help bring the cost down.

There is an information session for students and parents to learn more about this experience on November 10^th at 6PM in the school cafeteria. Students who are interested in learning more can email Mr. Grieve at arch.grieve@wright.edu.