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PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE
Blaine High School’ s Hana Tadesse wins Donaldson Science Award
Blaine High School( BHS) senior Hana Tadesse loves computer coding— writing computer software and apps.
“ Coding allows me to build my own world and create my own rules— a space to let my imagination flow freely,” she said.“ There ' s just something exciting and relieving in coding.”
And thanks to her love and passion for coding, she’ s excelled at it. So much so that Hana is one of four students from around the state to win a 2018 Donaldson STEM Award, which recognizes students of color who have demonstrated outstanding skills in science. Hana was recognized Jan. 13 at the Science Museum of Minnesota during the African Americans in Science event.
“ This award means a lot to me,” Hana said.“ It proves to me that my journey to discovering my passion for coding was worth all my effort.”
Hana was first introduced to coding during her sophomore year at BHS, where she was a member of the Center for Engineering, Math and Science( CEMS) program at the school. She said she realized then how passionate she was for coding, but was afraid to accept that computer science( CS) was a career she could pursue as an African American woman.
But Hana’ s curiosity and passion for coding led her to explore her interest in CS further. Before her junior year, she participated in Facebook’ s“ Girls Who Code” summer immersion program, where her team built an interactive mobile app to bring awareness to the homeless experience in America. This year, as a senior, Hana is taking CS courses at the University of Minnesota as a PSEO student.
“ Through continued exposure to CS and surrounding myself with other incredible girls who code, I have become fearless in my pursuit of CS. I realize that CS is a place for women and people of color as it is for others,” she said.“( And) receiving the Donaldson STEM Award shows me that I have the support and encouragement of my community to continue pursuing CS.”
The Donaldson STEM Award includes a $ 500 scholarship and a free, one-year household membership to the Science Museum of Minnesota.
“ The $ 500 scholarship I get from the award takes a huge burden off of me and my mother as it will cover some upcoming college fees,” said Hana, who has already been accepted into Stanford University through the school’ s early action deadline. At Stanford, she says she’ ll major in CS with a focus on communication and security. She is particularly interested in exploring security practices in third world countries and in devising a way to provide proper security and equal protection rights to all people.
“ I think computers are fascinating— if we communicate with them correctly and very carefully, we can produce some of the best things possible. There is no limit to what we can code up,” she said.
For now, Hana is focusing on wrapping up her senior year. She currently serves as a peer mentor through the Bengal Pride Leaders program, and is an active member of the BHS service learning club, Bengals in Action.
Blaine High School Senior Hana Tadesse was recognized Jan. 13 with a 2018 Donaldson STEM Award during an event at the Minnesota Science Museum in St. Paul.
But she’ s also excited for the future.
“ I ' m just excited to see where my next adventure lies,” she said.“ And I hope that if there is any girl out there interested in coding, don ' t be afraid to code and create your world.” ■
District to update middle and high school math instructional materials
When it comes to teaching students, it seems that today’ s classrooms offer a wider variety of opportunities for students than ever before. Math classrooms are no different.
And that ' s why, for the past two years, Anoka- Hennepin has been looking at updating its middle and high school math curriculum, piloting new math resources to help create classrooms that will offer greater opportunities for students.
Math classrooms of the past primarily focused on procedures seen in textbooks that instilled the same concept over and over again, and students thought of themselves as good or bad at math based on their ability to remember intricate formulas and procedures. Think back to the classrooms of old: students in long rows of desks, the teacher in the front of the room, students working along on homework sheets drilling whatever the day’ s procedure or operation lesson was.
“ What we’ ve discovered is that if you walk into today’ s math classrooms, they should look different than they did in the 70s,” said Kim Pavlovich, Anoka- Hennepin’ s director of secondary curriculum.“ So many things have improved, from technology to the way students learn, so we’ re trying to answer the question:‘ what is good instruction?’”
After months of study, it seems Anoka-Hennepin is getting closer to an answer to this question due to the work of the Secondary Math Study Committee. Math teachers, administrators, community members, and teaching and learning specialists have found two math resources to help create classrooms that will offer greater opportunities for students. The ultimate goal of any math program is to prepare students for success in various post-high school settings, whatever they may be.
This year, many of Anoka-Hennepin’ s secondary math teachers and their students piloted two updated math curriculums— and both reimagined the way math is learned.
The first, enVision, by Pearson Education, was piloted in the high schools this year after having been piloted in the middle schools last year. The second, Core Connections, by College Preparatory Math, was piloted at each middle and high school this year. And while the pilots are finished, some school teams may be continuing to use piloted materials during the remainder of the year.
Both resources engage students in a different manner by offering teachers a way to immerse students in critical thinking, according to Jeff McGonigal, the district’ s associate superintendent for secondary education.
“ Instead of a classroom with desks all facing a blackboard to learn from the teacher’ s lecture, we want the classroom to be more cooperative and collaborative between students and the teacher,” McGonigal said.“ Frequently in groups, students are asked to make sense of a problem posed by either the teacher or the classroom materials, rather than hearing about an operation they memorize.”
It’ s an improvement math teachers in Anoka-Hennepin have been working toward for the better part of a decade, with professional development and collaborative conversations.
“ Before, teachers talked to kids, but today, students are talking to one another
For the past two years Anoka-Hennepin has been looking at updating its middle and high school math curriculum.
more, and it’ s improving the outcomes for kids,” Renee Voltin, the district’ s teaching and learning specialist for high school mathematics, said.“ When working together, students can bounce ideas and perspectives off one another and it improves how they learn.”
As part of that update, last month, parents were asked for their feedback during an information night hosted by the Secondary Math Study Committee, which is leading the change. At the event, parents asked questions, engaged in a math classroom experience, and learned about the two publishers Anoka-Hennepin is considering for its next secondary math curriculum.
In addition to parent feedback, the committee has received input from many other groups as well. The committee will now pour over the input and feedback it has received and make a recommendation to the Anoka-Hennepin School Board on which new math materials to use across middle and high school math classes starting the 2018-19 school year. Parents, staff and the community can expect that to be done in the coming months. ■