What started out as lesson for seventh grade students in the use of spreadsheets to organize and present data mushroomed into a six-month long volunteer effort for George Phillips, a DOW chemical engineer who frequently supports STEM programs in area schools.
When looking for an appropriate set of data measurements to organize with spreadsheets, Phillips and students at the Mountaineer Montessori Middle School turned to the historic Carriage Trail running behind the school.
The lesson quickly mushroomed into an idea for a map that was finalized in June and is now for sale at the Bridge Road Bistro and other retailers. Production of the detailed technical map, which includes photos and historical information, took several months, giving students experience in trigonometry, geometry, cartography, surveying, data measurement, scaling, history, language, graphic design, photography and entrepreneurship.
Phillips has been giving back through volunteer STEM projects for several years, leading engineering projects such as the annual Capital City Pumpkin Drop and Calculus without Tears programs for students at Mountaineer Montessori School, Overbrook Elementary and the community at large.
The hands-on, student-led, real-world project is an example of the Montessori approach to education.
“It’s not sit down, book, paper, pencil. It’s get your hands on it. Do it. Figure it out,” explained Jamie Coleman, who served on the mapping team.
“When people are talking to you, you’ve kind of got a picture of what it is, but you’re not really sure. Having the real world experience and doing what they’re actually teaching is much better, and you have more understanding and learn a lot more,” added classmate Jasmine Phillips, Phillips’s daughter.
Founded in 1976, Mountaineer Montessori School is the largest, oldest and most-established Montessori school in West Virginia, serving 125 students at locations in Kanawha City for primary and elementary students and South Hills for seventh and eighth graders. An independent, non-sectarian nonprofit organization, MMS offers a rich academic and arts curriculum supplemented by foreign language, learning support services, computer classes and physical education in the University of Charleston gymnasium and pool facilities in an authentic Montessori environment.
