Global Competitiveness Launched Locally

It was a profound moment. Sitting in the office of a senior vice president at a major automotive supplier in 2004 I asked, "What is the number one skill you want to see in your new employees, those that come right out of high school or college?" His response has shaped many decisions from that point to now. He said, "I wish we could hire more young people that don't just stand around and wait to be told what to do next." As a former school and district administrator now charged with guiding the development of a relatively new education foundation, the words spoken that day affirmed what would become major design components of a small, nimble and purposeful, non-profit organization.

Michigan teachers and administrators are hearing more and more about the need to develop a strong and competent workforce. In conjunction with extreme pressures to meet state and national standards, approaches that force the consumption of precious time and energy often steer teaching in ways that target passing standardized tests. Good administrators and teachers instinctively know that teaching to tests is not in the best interest of their students, their communities or our country. Instinctively, good educators know that students want to be immersed in complexity and be given freedom to wrestle with new ideas and solve problems that have purpose and meaning to them, personally.

The Convergence Education Foundation (CEF) is designed to ignite the creative potential of students in engineering, science and mathematics. Although not a "mega-foundation," we effectively co-create relevant projects in schools in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. With grants and professional support that unites teams of educators, student leaders and often, corporate partners, we seek-out those teachers and individuals that have the passion and support that leads to involving students in immersive projects in non-traditional ways. No two projects are the same, as a diverse portfolio of ideas and activities sets each school or project apart from the other.

But there are similarities! All of the work we do is grounded in the research on how humans best learn. Avoiding plug-and-play approaches, each CEF project incorporates background for staff and students on the importance of accessing the research coming out of the neurosciences on how the brain best functions and what conditions we need to create in order to maximize our learning and thinking capacities. Then, the teachers and administrators with initiative and high professional integrity co-create a proposal for review by the CEF board of directors. The topics must engage students in engineering, science or mathematics. "We don't buy workbooks, we buy gear."

A key underpinning is the focus on establishing students as leaders. In as many ways as possible, students are to be engaged in the decision making aspects of the projects, regardless of their age. Leadership is to be shared by all individuals if at all possible. If the United States is to maintain leadership in our continuously expanding global technologies community, the leadership that our schools produce must be developed very early on. Therefore, we seek those teachers that are comfortable with releasing some of the power and direction of the learning process, while not relinquishing their professional authority. Innovation and creativity naturally emerge, and spectacular results occur. Test scores in CEF related schools are going up, students are more excited about school, and new, young leaders in engineering, science and math are about to assume their earned place in our communities.

With numerous examples from which to draw upon, it seems wise to share some flavor of what CEF related projects are like. Recently, the CEF board introduced a set of standards that enabled our CEF schools to be acknowledged. The COSEE designation (Center Of Science and Engineering Excellence) allows our school network to apply for and be recognized by industry leaders for their great work. The first Michigan schools earning this designation are:

• University High School (Ferndale Public Schools)
• Traverse City Central High School
• William D. Ford Career Technical Center (Wayne-Westland)
• Garfield Elementary (Flint)
• Huron Intermediate School District (Bad-Axe)
• Macomb Academy of Arts and Sciences (Armada)

Regina High School in South Euclid, OH is also an outstanding awardee.

Each school or district has clearly extended themselves in ways that reach well beyond what teaching to the test approaches provide. Watching the young people discover their own and collective potential brings the reality of why we educators selected this career as our profession back into view. Incorporating these exciting projects into existing classes, or perhaps even creating new ones, is the way many school leaders circumvent the common retort by some that there isn't any time in the day to do these projects.

Sharing specifics will better frame what is meant. Here are a only few examples of active projects supporting engineering, science and math in Michigan:

• Allegan County: Acoustical engineering where students research, design and test speakers utilizing their knowledge of electro-mechanics.
• Innovative Vehicle Design Teams are building full-scale electric cars with a touch of technology innovation at the Mecosta-Osceola Math/Science and Technical Center (Big Rapids), University High (Ferndale), Summit Academy (Romulus), WDFord Career Tech Center (Wayne-Westland), Pontiac Northern High, Berry Career Tech Center (Dearborn), Huron County ISD, Center Line High, Southfield High and Belleville High. (See Photo #1)
• Grosse Pointe Physics Teacher, Mark Davids, has created the first-ever kit-based curriculum on the Science of Cell Phones and Wireless Communications.
• Owosso Public Schools is introducing a new class that revolves around students researching and applying new technologies that create a "crash-proof" infrastructure know as Vii (Vehicular Integrated Infrastructure).
• Teachers at Garfield Elementary in Flint are using a theme-based approach to integrate their required standards and benchmarks. Local and regional transportation systems are used to support their science, math and engineering exploration.
• A recent teacher workshop coordinated and hosted by the Traverse City Sc-Ma-Tech leadership team of Keith Forton and John Failor brought 24 teachers from around the state to build underwater, remotely operated vehicles (ROV's). New programs are now growing in those schools. (See Photo #2)

Be on the look out, as CEF related projects and funding opportunities will be made available at the upcoming MSTA Conference in Lansing. A new set of Innovative Vehicle Design project grants will be unveiled and interested teachers will be given the opportunity to consider becoming a part of this exciting and expanding network of proud professionals that are producing the next generation of competent and highly qualified technological leaders. The IVD family of projects (Mini-racing, Underwater, Lunar and Aero) is an assortment of opportunities utilizing radio-controlled vehicles.

There is good news. Recent conversations with industry executives suggest that bright, enthusiastic young people are arriving in greater numbers than even a few years ago. Hopefully, this is a sign that the schools and the individuals are in deed finding success in their abilities to adapt to this shifting set of conditions that influence everyone connected to the learning and training processes. A trend? Let's hope so.

The Convergence Education Foundation is dedicated to offer our businesses, colleges, communities and nation young people that do not have any interest in standing around and waiting for others to direct them. Immersive, complex and relevant projects in engineering, science and mathematics have a way of exciting our youth toward becoming self-confident leaders that will ensure our global leadership for decades to come.

Karl Klimek is the Executive Orchestrator of the Convergence Education Foundation and a former teacher and school district administrator. He is co-author of 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action: The Fieldbook to Teaching and the Human Brain (2004 and 2008) and Generative Leadership: Shaping New Futures for Today.s Schools (2008). See www.corwinpress.com. He can be reached at karl@cef-trek.org, 313-647-9993, www.cef-trek.org.