K-12 Educational Development

With coronavirus-prompted school closures becoming a reality, it also became an inevitability that educators would have to teach in a different way. They would have to turn to online instruction in this new era of distance learning. That’s when GCU’s K12 Educational Development Department started to think of things it could do to support teachers. “We just leaped into action and said let’s put it on a YouTube Channel; we know we can do this,” said Corinne Araza, the department’s Director of STEM Outreach and Program Development. It’s where educators can find webinars and Tip-of-the-Day videos, and where parents can find educational tips, too. The department is also supporting teachers through various social media outlets.

What do you get when you combine the Milwaukee Brewers and GCU’s Honors College? The Brewers STEM Crew after school club. The program for middle school students, who were led by students from the Honors College, highlighted the STEM involved in baseball through an active, engaging approach.

Hundreds of students from almost 50 middle and high schools toted along their robots, solar-powered model cars and disaster relief engineering designs to the University on Saturday. They were competing in the Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) central regional event, which featured nine design challenges. GCU also will be the site for the state competition in May and the nationals in June.

How does GCU make a private Christian education accessable and affordable for it’s students? That is the question that was answered at this year’s Cracking the Code CCSC Leadership Forum for Leaders within the K-12 Christian education level. “It was a great event. It was a remarkable group of leaders,” said Ryan Bredow, Assistant Vice President of K12 Educational Development. “We invited them to a conversation. The conversation was built around a concept that we refer to as cracking the code.”

The Association of Christian Schools International’s first international job fair at GCU brought representatives from 28 countries to campus Tuesday. “We have a variety of job fairs and career fairs, but mostly they’re local and national. This is opening up the door in a large way to the number of professions in that international sphere,” said Dr. Tacy Ashby, Senior Vice President of K12 Educational Development. “The College of Education is really excited about this because it affords incredible ministry opportunities while allowing their students the opportunity to serve in Christian schools abroad.”

Dr. Ryan Melillo, who teaches anatomy and physiology at GCU, wanted to make sure his son, Evan, was in an environment where the Christian worldview was prominent in his education. So his family chose to move Evan to a private Christian school — a choice being supported by GCU and GCE employee-giving program Allocate to Elevate. Allocate to Elevate just launched its eighth year this month with a new name — it was previously called Donate to Elevate — and a new pledge goal of $3.2 million.

“I really do believe the big gap between engineers – male and female – is that girls are told it’s a boy’s job,” said sophomore psychology major Madi Abercrombie, a member of the GCU Robotics Club, at Saturday’s Girl Powered STEM Workshop. “We’re empowering girls at a younger age and helping them to have confidence.” About 40 fourth through eighth grade girls spent the morning programming robots, making a slime-like non-Newtonian fluid called gooey gak and making simple battery-powered motors. They also listened to a panel of women, including GCU Associate Dean of Engineering Dr. Janet Brelin-Fornari, speak about their careers in STEM fields. The workshop was a collaboration between the Robotics Club and K12 Educational Development, as well as VEX Robotics and the Robotics Education Competition Foundation.

Women only make up 24 percent of the STEM fields, according to VEX Robotics, which is why it launched its Girl Powered initiative. Inspired by that initiative, GCU’s Robotics Club is bringing back its Girl Powered STEM Workshop on Saturday in the Technology Building for girls in fourth through eighth grades. “We want to have that awareness at an early age that STEM is not exclusive to boys,” said Ed Koeneman, the Robotics Club’s advisor and an instructor in electrical engineering technology.

GCU’s IT-cybersecurity bachelor’s degree program just received a prestigious designation, being named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. The award is given by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security after a program meets stringent criteria. “This is a big deal,” said Dr. Heather Monthie, Associate Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. “This is essentially their stamp of approval on our cybersecurity program.” What that means for students: They’ll have even more access to government jobs and scholarships.

When Brian Mucyo was 6, his parents had to send their son to a country more medically equipped to care for the deterioration of his vision. With only 10% visibility left in his left eye and a prosthetic eye for his right, Mucyo lived in Belgium for several years before moving to America to complete high school and eventually enroll at GCU. Now he’s an Honors College student and uses the skills he has developed in his travels (specifically, the four languages he now speaks fluently) to help other international students create the confidence to speak and learn English.