STEM Enrichment Program

Martha McLeod, a semi-retired veteran science teacher, began STEM enrichment programs for students at Fulton Elementary in the fall of 2022. Seeing a need to challenge students that were already excelling in their regular classes, McLeod selected areas of STEM that would provide the best background and preparation for future careers. She does this by meeting weekly with 5 enrichment classes for kids. All of her classes incorporate guest speakers that are experts in their area of study. She also makes sure that students get to go on field trips in each of her programs to see real world learning in action.

Birdwatching is a huge draw to the Rockport-Fulton area. Tourists from around the world flock to our area to see the high numbers of both resident and migratory birds in this area of the Coastal Bend. It is imperative to educate a new generation of birders at a young age about the positive ecology of our area for avian life. It is also important to share the perils of loss of habitat and pollution that bird species are facing. Therefore, both a youth birding and junior naturalist class are part of McLeod’s curriculum in her STEM outreach efforts. As part of her curriculum, students serve as tour guides on the “Hummer Home” tour buses educating our out-of-town visitors about the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Students in these 2 programs have also worked with the local Wings Rescue Center to create educational outreach booklets for tourists to purchase highlighting some of our native wildlife and ways to benefit them either with native plant life or supplemental water and feeders.

Another program of McLeod’s is her miniature medical/veterinary class. Students learn the basics of the major systems of the body including the skeletal, musculature, cardiac & circulatory, excretory, nervous, and digestive systems of the body. Vocabulary and structures/functions of these systems is a huge part of the curriculum in this class. Guest speakers have included dieticians from Driscoll Children’s Hospital, a dentist, a physical therapist, and administration from the veterinary technician program at TAMU-Kingsville. Field trips have been taken to the nursing simulation labs at TAMU-CC, a chiropractor’s clinic, a nurse practitioner’s clinic, the local Emergency Room, and the ambulance barn.

Mrs. McLeod also sponsors 2 different engineering classes. One of the classes focuses on curriculum from Engineering is Elementary out of Boston, MA. The second class utilizes the KidSpark engineering curriculum from CA. Both classes are taught the engineering design process and how to work collaboratively to come up with designs that are functional while staying within in constraints and criteria of the task given. A local civil engineer and a local architect have both served as guest presenters in class. Students were also given a tour of the construction of the new wing of the school. These programs continue to evolve as students share their interests for particular fields of engineering including aerospace and electrical engineering.

Visit rfeducationfoundation.org for more information.