ALTEC to Help Fort Leavenworth Students Build 21st Century Skills

Leavenworth, KS, September 15, 2011 --(PR.com)-- ALTEC, a division of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning, will help students in Unified School District 207 in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., develop 21st Century Skills as part of a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity’s Educational Partnership. USD 207 is a public school system of 1,800 students in kindergarten through ninth grade within Fort Leavenworth.

The school district will use the funds to blend best practice learning methods to better prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). STEM careers have been identified as vital to U.S. competitiveness in the 21st century economy.

CYBER-TEAMS (a modification of STEM to acknowledge the link between arts education and the sciences) will allow USD 207 to expand student thinking beyond the traditional physical classroom model. Learning spaces will evolve with investments in technology and teacher professional development. For example, teams of students will engage in challenge-based learning, addressing the “big idea” of energy. Challenges will play out differently at each grade level, with activities appropriate to each age group. Teams will use traditional math, language, history, and science and art skills along with technology to identify and solve a challenge, such as energy efficiency.

“Over 90 percent of our students are children of military families. Due to deployment schedules, a typical student is with us less than two years. CYBER-TEAMS is designed to spark an interest in STEM careers that will continue long after they have left our community,” said Alan Landever, Director of Technology Services at USD 207.

In addition to ALTEC and the school district, the following are CYBER-TEAMS partners:

• Frontier Army Museum, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
• Decent Energy, Leawood, Kan.
• Wisdom Tools, Bloomington, Ind.
• Mid-America Regional Council, Kansas City, Mo.
• National Simulation Center, Fort Leavenworth
• NASA Office of Education
• Apple Computer

For more information about the CYBER-TEAMS project, please contact Alan Landever, alandever@usd207.org or (913) 651-7373.

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