Gladewater ISD plans STEM night event featuring mobile TEA lab

“You always hear them say, ‘I don’t like math.'”
But that’s not the final word for Gladewater ISD Supt. Rae Ann Patty and her faculty. When young students turn their nose up at a math or science, the teachers are putting in the extra effort to spark fresh curiosity.
Texas Education Agency’s mobile STEM lab is a great tool for that task, and it’s heading to Gladewater’s Weldon campus Thursday, Dec. 13.
It’s not just for the kids, either. All Weldon students will be able to go through during the day, some middle schoolers will join them, then anybody in the community, young and old, gets to visit the lab from 5:30 to 7 p.m. that night.
And, GISD’s sweetening the deal with free nachos.
“This is a way to get kids interested in Math activities.”
The mobile STEM lab will be stationed in the Weldon Elementary parking lot at 314 E. Saunders for all comers.
“It’s way to promote science, math and engineering technologies in the community through the lens of TEA,” Patty said last week. “It’s really hard to get kids involved in those areas. They’re trying to show them it’s really fun and can be really exciting.”
Alongside their parents during the evening outreach, the students will be able to learn about STEM education options as well as job opportunities for their future.
In addition to presenting the school’s math framework, the event includes science experiments, real life math applications, engineering projects and STEM competitions.
Only a limited number of schools across Texas get to take advantage of the roving educational outreach.
“You have to apply and be selected,” Patty noted. “They want to see if there’s a need. Our math scores have not been up to par.”
She praised GISD Curriculum & Instruction Director Andra Baggett for writing the grant that landed the lab.
“We were one of 20 schools that were selected in the whole state of Texas,” Patty told GISD trustees Nov. 17.