BSD45 makes strides in STEM education

Barnwell School District 45 students, teachers, and administrators had a moment in the spotlight on Oct. 25 when filming a video with Van Robotics, The Smart Robot Tutor company. The video was shot to highlight BSD45’s district-wide implementation of STEM initiatives and recognition as a Lighthouse School District.

The Lighthouse School District Recognition was designed by Van Robotics to highlight the achievements of school districts implementing STEM initiatives to ultimately build a stronger community. BSD45 is one of the first.

“We are so honored to be recognized as one of the first Lighthouse School Districts by Van Robotics for our strong STEM efforts across the district. As a district, we approach STEM as a mindset rather than just as a subject or course. Our district firmly believes that STEM Education helps prepare our students for their futures in our dynamic and ever-changing world,” said Superintendent Dr. Crissie Stapleton.

Over the past two years, BSD45 has completely integrated ABii Robots into each grade level in the elementary and primary schools. ABii Robots are a product of Van Robotics, a company dedicated to delivering personalized and engaging learning methods for students to build confidence and core skills that will last a lifetime.

“It’s much more fun to interact with a robot than paper and pencil,” Barnwell Primary School Principal Donna Selvey.

Although these robots only stand roughly a foot high, their impact in Barnwell classrooms is big. ABii is both a robot and a program that works with students step-by-step to learn a lesson plan selected by their teacher.

“The teachers will take lessons, especially if a student is struggling with a certain concept, they’ll set a lesson on ABii for the child to practice those skills,” said Principal Selvey, who was an interviewee for the video.

Each student takes a pre-assessment to determine the stylized learning plan best fit for them, and then ABii takes them on a guided journey to further learn the topic.

ABii was named one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2020 by Time Magazine, and was developed by Dr. Laura Boccanfuso, Chief Executive Officer of Van Robotics, to close the math and reading proficiency gap for K-5 students.

“Van Robotics is privileged to work with outstanding school districts like Barnwell 45 to further promote student success through innovative technologies like ABii,” said Dr. Boccanfuso.

“ABii works to reinforce the reading and math skills that I am teaching in the classroom,” said fourth grade teacher Ashley Sandifer, who was also interviewed for the video. “Our ABii robots are very interactive, have helped increase student engagement, and are an innovative technology that is a part of our daily routine!”

After every completed task, ABii will either start to dance, high-five, or play a guitar solo for the student to celebrate their achievement.

“ABii celebrates student success by dancing. Students love when they meet their goals and ABii dances to celebrate them!” said Sandifer.

“They love to show off when they master that skill,” said first grade teacher Aerial Baxley of the reward her students feel when learning with ABii. “They look around to notice who sees that the robot is dancing for them. It’s very motivating for them.”

ABii has a slew of friends such as Mario, Vee, Wanda, Url and Jolt the puppy who each struggle with a different component of school. These characters that appear in ABii’s virtual world help students relate and work through any issues they may be experiencing.

“It’s been working in my classroom,” said second grade teacher Dionne Bennett-Scully.

Many students have given their classroom’s ABii robot a name and dress it in different outfits as it represents a member of the classroom.

“We believe science and technology are two main foundational elements of any education, and strong STEM educational programs will strengthen our educational system,” said Dr. Stapleton. “Partnering with Van Robotics has allowed us to expand that and allowed us to bring ABii into our classrooms.”

To showcase how well the implementation of ABii has worked in Barnwell kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms, BSD45 was asked to participate in a video filmed by ABii’s creator, Van Robotics. ABii can be found in 36 states and in seven countries, but BSD45 was chosen to highlight the ideal integration of their learning product.

Cameras, lighting, and sound equipment filled a classroom at Barnwell Elementary preparing to record interviews with teachers and administrators.

Dr. Boccanfuso and her team prepared BSD45 members for interviews about how social-emotional learning with ABii is operating in their classrooms.

“It’s very exciting,” said Principal Selvey. “It’s great that we get the recognition, especially for the teachers because they are doing so much with STEM activities.”

Principal Selvey explained that the integration of technology does not stop with ABii robots. Primary school students can utilize the STEM Lab and participate in STEM Fridays as well as BPS being a one-to-one school with every student having a Chromebook laptop.

BSD45 also has implemented coding beginning in PreK, Girls that Code clubs, robotics teams, our full engineering pathway at BHS, our apprenticeship program with Swiss Krono, and much more.

Also interviewed for the recognition video was Dr. Stapleton, BES Principal Kay Gooding, Curriculum Coaches Kelly Shealy and Daphne Still, and fifth grade teachers Jenny Raines and Debbie Bridgemon.

When Bennett-Scully sat down for the interview, she described “the impact that technology has on the students, how much ABii is working for them, and how they love ABii.”

“At first I thought it would have been nerve wracking, but it was pretty easy. It was just like having a conversation,” said Bennett-Scully.

Baxley was nervous as well to be interviewed by the crew from Van Robotics– she was also the first to share her experiences with ABii on camera.

“It’s very one-to-one, it’s very individualized,” said Baxley. “Once they learn the program, they know what to do and it advances them.”

Baxley finds this allows her to be more efficient as a teacher and helps her to gauge the levels of which her students are learning.

“Our greatest hope is to provide personalized learning experiences for our students as we support and nurture their growth academically, socially, and emotionally. We want to provide our students with a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment and empower them to build purposeful, positive relationships,” said Dr. Stapleton. “Each of our students is unique in his or her own way, and they each have their own needs. We strive to embrace our students’ curiosities and interests as we prepare them for the future and help them write their own stories of what their futures will be.”

This will not be the only partnership program between BSD45 and Van Robotics aimed to better the learning experience of students.

“We are thrilled to launch our flagship high/middle school program at Barnwell 45 this year, called Classroom to Career, to offer even more opportunities for more students to learn key skills and prepare them to be competitive in the rapidly evolving job market,” said Dr. Boccanfuso.

The video highlighting BSD45’s use of ABii by Van Robotics will be found on https://www.smartrobottutor.com once published as well as Van Robotics social media platforms.