DeKalb County students take their classroom on the road to teach kids about science

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Every Friday, students from the DeKalb Academy of Technology and Environment hop in the "S.T.E.A.M. Dream Team" bus and travel to local pre-kindergartens to teach children about science, math, and art.

Nanette Shillingford is the STEM Coordinator at the middle school and says, "the reason we wanted to do the daycares, we wanted to plant the seed, so that when they hear these words and see this stuff, it won't be the first time they've been exposed to it," Shillingford said.

The middle school students create their own lesson plans for the younger kids who rotate around to different stations for about 30 minutes inside and around the team's bus. The stations range from drones to creating slime, to playing with animals, to learning about electric circuits. Students are recommended by their teachers for this program.

Sixth-grader Trevor Sewell flies drones for the students and explains how they work. "I feel like I'm having an impact on our next generation, and they could possibly be smarter than me if I keep teaching them like this," Sewell said. 

Kene Lively is an eighth grader who teaches the students about electrical currents using an interactive game. "We're teaching them skills they can use in life, use to get a job, and this is early on," Lively said.

For now, the students travel around DeKalb County, but they're planning to expand to multiple counties across Atlanta this coming year.

If you'd like your child to participate in either the S.T.E.A.M. Dream Team or have the team come to your child's pre-kindergarten school, call the DeKalb Academy at (678) 999-9290 and ask for Nanette Shillingford or e-mail her directly at nshillingford@dateacademy.org.