When La Porte ISD students in the third and fourth grades head back to school on Aug. 17, they can look forward to spending a total of four weeks this school year in specially designed labs to learn concepts in science, technology, engineering and math.
Julie Abram, the district’s director of teaching and professional learning, has been helping develop an elementary-level program to jump-start those students’ exposure to STEM education, which emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving.
The labs will better prepare this age group for high-school level classes like robotics, coding and health sciences and for the skills that will take them into college or post-graduation careers, Abram said.
Before, she said, “our students weren’t receiving STEM until seventh or eighth grade, but we have a responsibility to ensure these kids are ready for…
