Ashland Middle School Students Receive Grant From Marathon
Lisa Patrick
The Ashland Beacon
Ashland Middle School’s STEM classes have done a lot of great things in the past few years, and they have big plans this year too. Marathon recently made it a little easier for them to pull off some of those plans by presenting them with a check for $15,000.
On Oct. 11, Sheila Fraley and Ben Tibbetts from Marathon came to Ashland Middle School to present the check to Principal Rebecca Howell, teachers Mark Harmon and David Sparks, and a group of students from the STEM classes. The check is from a STEM grant that Marathon presents to local schools. Marathon has been involved with Ashland Middle School’s STEM program for several years and has also helped them “develop some of the projects that they’ve put on in their competitions,” remarked Fraley.
Marathon “focuses on education, thriving communities, and, in this case, workforce development,” said Fraley, “because someday these great kids will come and work for Marathon.” Fraley said that when Ben Tibbitts brought the students’ plans to the committee at Marathon, they looked at it, and, knowing “the results they’ve had in the past,” we all “really felt like it was something that we should support.”
STEM teacher David Sparks remarked the “STEM program at Ashland Middle School is pretty large and vast.” They cover 3D printing, computer science, space science, electricity, electronics, game design, and “you name it, we do it in some way, shape, form or fashion.” But, what AMS really tries to “focus on with our classes is problem-solving and community outreach.” Sparks stated that “the things that our kids learn through doing community outreach projects” are things that “they’re not going to get just sitting in a classroom. The only way for students to get these skills is by getting out there and utilizing the skills that you learn.” Sparks also mentioned, “These are also skills that are sought after by employers.”
12-year-old seventh grader, Sebastian Tibbetts, is excited to be able to use some of the equipment that the grant is going to pay for such as a new 3D printer. Sebastian said there is a program that sends out “subscription boxes for kids who are interested in engineering, but some kids can’t afford them.” He and another student in the STEM program are going to “make one of those boxes.” Sebastian commented that the box “will be kind of cheaper but will still have the same quality of materials.” With the help of the STEM grant from Marathon, he hopes that they can get even more materials to go in the box. He said the 3D printer that the classroom will be getting “will help us with making some of the parts.” What Sebastian likes most about the STEM program is being able to present the project and show the judges all of the details. He hopes some of the projects he has helped with will get other kids involved and thinking, “Hey, maybe that could be me” because he hopes to get kids “more involved in the engineering process.”
Sparks stated, “We pride ourselves in being able to offer our kids many different outlets” and with the way “the cost of everything has gone through the roof, we seek any and all things that we can get to better our program for our kids.”