By Christine Barcia
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – The future of learning is on display now at the Barkalow Middle School, Stillwells Corner Road.
The school is home to a state-of-the-art science, technology, engineering, art and design, and mathematics (STEAM) center that allows students to use a hands-on approach to learning.
“Students come down (to the center) with an idea and walk out with a great product,” Barkalow Vice Principal Thomas Smith said. “It was a great opportunity to transform this space that will support 21st century learning.”
The center, Smith said, brings out what students “can do, not what they can’t do.”
The facility is named the Glenn A. Miller Center (GAM) after the local philanthropist who donated $25,000 toward the redesign of the Barkalow media center. GAM is the Freehold Township K-8 School District’s first fully funded STEAM center, according to Ali Ryan, the district’s elementary school technology integration coordinator.
The center at Barkalow was also funded through the Freehold Township Education Foundation’s STEAM212 initiative.
“STEAM212 is a $212,000 campaign to fund collaborative, creation-based Makerspaces for interdisciplinary education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math at the media centers in the five elementary schools and two middle schools in Freehold Township,” said Denise A. Bartone, vice chair of the Freehold Township Education Foundation.
On Feb. 25, fifth-graders from the West Freehold School were invited to explore the STEAM center and learn how to use the technology available. Barkalow eighth-graders provided the instruction to the pupils who will enter the middle school in September.
“The objective of their experience is to have the upper grade students turnkey their knowledge of the activities/programs in the GAM Center to students in the younger grades. The younger students will become the experts when they use similar applications in their current classrooms and media center,” Ryan said.
Pupils were able to explore four different stations:
• Tinkercard – students come to the station with an idea of an object they want to make using the program and then the object is printed using the 3D printer
• Sphero/Coding – students create an online program (coding) that moves Sphero, a spherical robot toy, at a steady speed for a specified amount of time and performs maneuvers using the application
• Robotics/Legos – students create a program (coding) that moves a robot to navigate through the Mindcraft set-up and at the same time perform simple tasks
• Chromakey/V-Scope – students are introduced to the green screen and create a book trailer or informational video using the green screen and V-scope.
“At the different stations, Barkalow students have become experts over the last six months. This will get the fifth-graders started earlier,” said Matthew Finucane, technology integration coordinator at Barkalow Middle School.
Kyle Navarro, an eighth-grader, shared his Lego knowledge with a group of fifth grade students.
“I am teaching them how to build and program Lego robotics. I love to create and use my imagination. I have been playing with Lego since I was born,” Kyle said.
Lego and robots are “spreading throughout the district,” Ryan said.
Eight-grader Marissa Manfre said the GAM Center was a “good way to let loose after a day of school.”
“It’s different here. You get to not just do a math problem. It’s more hands-on, a different way to learn and it is a good learning experience for the fifth-graders. They don’t have this at their school,” Melissa said.
Freehold Township Mayor Barbara McMorrow attended the STEAM event and was “fascinated” by what students are accomplishing. McMorrow, who began teaching in 1970 and retired as a high school principal, said, “our future is in good hands.”
“I will go back to tell the other members of the Township Committee about this,” the mayor said.