RE Log Fall 2016

18 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2016 Robert “Doc” Crabtree Science Department BA College of Wooster, MS Ohio University, PhD Clark University If Ransom Everglades is going to stay at the forefront of education, science educa- tion being part of that, it has to stay current in terms of its facilities, its faculty and how it teaches. All are important. When I started interviewing for a secondary school position many years ago, I toured many of the schools in the area, and the one thing that Ransom Everglades had that was far superior to any of the other schools was its space, its facility. It wasn’t tightly packed into a cramped room where you could barely fit 19 desks, and struggle to set up laboratories. It was wide-open space and, at the time, it was innovative space. We evolved and kept up with the times, but, many years later, the school has grown. We have simply outgrown our present space. Not only do we need to forge ahead with new thinking in terms of how to best teach sci- ence, but we also need more room, more classrooms, to be able to continue what we have done so well for so many years. The right building would be another landmark like the pool, like the renovation of the gym. When I first came here, we didn’t have a gym. The pool was falling down, and had to be replaced. Now, it’s science’s turn, and math, technology and engineering as well. When teaching science you need laborato- ry space. You need space for kids to come in, do hands-on work, do experiments, and so forth. More so today than ever before, kids need their own private space to work on projects of their own. They need a given area where they can do self-exploring in terms of devising their own experiments, exploring their own ideas – under guid- ance of course. Student-oriented research spaces and presentation spaces where they can work on how they are going to present to the public, to their classmates, are very important. That’s the next step: allowing students the independence to do their own research projects, perhaps as a continuation of work they do through internships over the summer. All of this is on mission at Ransom Everglades. In all of the scien- tific disciplines, it’s all about giving back, it’s all about doing something to provide for the larger community. All of the STEM disciplines offer opportunities to solve criti- cal, global problems, issues dramatically affecting all of us. Ensuring our students’ success in these fields could not be more closely aligned with the vision of the school, with Paul Ransom’s original vision. All of the STEM disciplines offer opportunities to solve critical, global problems, issues dramatically affecting all of us. Ensuring our students’ success in these fields could not be more closely aligned with the vision of the school, with Paul Ransom’s original vision.