CRESTVIEW — Can the arts coexist with schools’ emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math — STEM — classes?
Yes, local teachers, students and engineers say. But sometimes there’s a perceived rivalry.
STEM AND, OR STEM VS.?
“The political position is that it’s a zero-sum game, in which if the arts get something, STEM loses, and if STEM gets something the arts lose,” Crestview Technology Air Park project executive Dennis Mitchell said.
Mitchell, a retired Troy University environmental sciences professor, said the discussion should be STEM and arts, not versus arts.
With STEM subjects emphasized as early as elementary school, sometimes an extra effort is needed to assure the arts aren’t lost when the focus turns to drones and robots. Educators praise Okaloosa County School District Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson for assuring that support.
“The arts are very, very important to a student’s academic success,” Jackson said. “We know that. Research supports that.”
GETTING UP STEAM
Northwood Arts and Science Academy’s name says it all, describing a new approach some educators call STEAM, which adds the arts to STEM.
At Northwood, the arts and sciences often coincide with student science projects turning into works of art. Different-colored crayons melt at different rates, students learn, but the resulting streaks of colors make a picturesque abstract.
At Davidson and Shoal River Middle Schools, robotics students indulge their artistic sides, creating a colorful tabletop course through which they’ll program the robots they create.
“The two can mesh but it does take funding,” Northwood Principal Dr. Donna Goode said. “It’s not that administrators and teachers don’t want those things, it’s how do we pay for those things. It always comes back to the money.”
FEED THE WORKFORCE
There is also pressure from some business and parent groups that believe the purpose of schools is to feed the workforce, which, Mitchell said, is definitely a consideration, considering the limited employment opportunities for artists.
“I know there’s going to be a whole lot more jobs for someone who can do math in their heads than can do a pirouette,” he said.
That philosophy worries educators such as Dr. David Simmons, a Northwest Florida State humanities professor and the Film Club’s adviser. “In our day, there are voices that say, ‘The arts: who needs them? Let’s just go with STEM,’” Simmons said during the NWFSC film club’s Monday night discussion. “But the arts can change us, and make us better people.”
They can also make students better at STEM subjects.
“There’s a lot of research that shows with fine arts, it helps students academically,” Goode said.
“That’s what we need in industry and business: People who don’t live in a box and can be in touch with their creative side,” Jackson said.
TEMPERING TECHNOLOGY
The arts also can temper STEM’s academic intensity, said dual-enrolled Crestview High and Collegiate High School student Carson Wilber, who’s been programming since he was 10.
“What seems to be commonly accepted knowledge is that STEM fields and the arts are on opposite ends of the spectrum, with logic and structure on one end and emotions and creativity on the other,” Carson said. “That's not necessarily true. For me, although my daily school life is consumed with math and science courses, I always come home and embrace movies, music and art as a comfort away from my work.”
“There needs to be something for every child, and I believe in teaching the whole child,” Jackson said. “It’s not just math and science; there’s another side to that child as well.”
And, Northwest Florida State student Grant Welch said during the “Dead Poets Society” discussion, a knowledge of the arts and humanities makes us more well-rounded, no matter how technical our vocation.
“It makes for more interesting conversation at dinner parties,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: STEM and arts can coexist and support each other, Okaloosa educators say