“But we weren't actually seeing how that was translating into general-ed classrooms.” “We became a STEAM academy five years ago and we knew the arts were really important,” explains Vice Principal Michelle Wheatfill, dropping the buzzword that stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics. More than 60 percent of students are on free or reduced lunch, yet Bracken is one of the top performing elementary schools in the city and ranks in the top two Title I schools in the state. Thus goes a typical, hands-on science lesson at Walter Bracken STEAM Academy, a public magnet located about two miles north of the casinos of Fremont Street and the downtown core. Students work on a volcano project developed from a special STEAM workshop for educators. “Think about where your lava is going to go,” she advises, as kids start brushing on coats of black and brown paint and rivulets of red dripping off the sides. She walks around the room asking kids questions about their creations, sculpted in white modeling clay. Vicky Zblewski, a 12-year veteran of the 4th-grade classroom, stands at the front of the room wearing a Hawaiian shirt studded with erupting volcanoes, as she reviews some volcanology basics (What is a cone volcano? Does it have thin or thick lava?). LAS VEGAS - Inside a science lab here on a scorching summer day, 27 kids sit in small groups itching to get started on the day’s science activity: putting finishing touches on their model volcanoes.
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