Beginning this school year, PYLUSD and the North Orange County Career Access Partnership (NOCCAP) opened five STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) labs at Glenview Elementary School, Lakeview Elementary School, Mabel Paine Elementary School, Rio Vista Elementary School and Ruby Drive Elementary School.
These Pitsco Missions Labs are patterned after Space Shuttle crew roles with students acting as Commander, Materials Specialist, Information Specialist or Communication Specialist. Each crew works on their own unique five-day mission with titles such as “Matter Matters,” “Rocketry,” and “Force and Motion.”
The labs are part of the progression of career pathways across grade spans in PYLUSD: STEMLink (elementary), ExpeditionLink (middle school) and the culminating CareerLink Academies (high school).
These STEM labs address three of the goals of the California Career Pathway Trust Grant Round 2 awarded to PYLUSD/NOCCAP:
- Provide high-quality educational opportunities and formal learning that supports students’ current skill sets, and accelerates their development of skills.
- Maintain rigorous and high expectations for students in developing, following and completing a career pathway plan.
- Expose students to career opportunities beginning at an early age.
Pictured: fifth grade students at Mabel Paine Elementary School are engaged and excited about embarking on their first STEMLink lab missions!
Nice to see this. Hopefully the other PLUSD elementary schools will get this program soon.