South Vermillion teacher recognized with national honor

Sue Loughlin, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·4 min read

Sep. 7—A South Vermillion Community School Corp. teacher is receiving national recognition for her work with elementary students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Amber Pitts, a Project Lead the Way K-5 STEM lab teacher at Central Elementary in Clinton, has been named the 2022-23 national Project Lead the Way K-5 Launch Teacher of the Year.

"I don't think it's really sunk in," Pitts said Tuesday of the honor. "It's really exciting for me because STEM to me is the next up and coming ... what kids need to know so they are thinking creatively and outside the box."

Pitts began the elementary program in 2020-21 by teaching all students in all three elementary schools (Central, Van Duyn, Ernie Pyle) throughout the course of the school year at the height of the pandemic. She continued to do this during the 2021-22 school year.

Pitts "took on a very big task at a very unlikely time for a brand new program to succeed. Our students are so lucky for the engaging STEM learning they receive at South Vermillion at every level," said Melanie Beaver, the district's director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

Project Lead The Way is an American nonprofit organization that develops STEM curricula for use by U.S. elementary, middle, and high schools. The three main areas of focus are computer science, engineering, and biomedical.

The award "recognizes educators who demonstrate a strong record of delivering an inspiring and empowering student experience, expanding access to PLTW programs, and transforming teaching," according to a news release from the national organization.

Pitts is a lifetime resident of Clinton and has taught grades K-4 at South Vermillion Community School Corp. for 22 years.

Project Lead the Way provides the STEM curriculum.

In fourth grade, students learn about energy and collisions; they learn about kinetic and potential energy. Students build a pendulum and a vehicle; the students crash the small vehicles in one activity. In an "end project," they send a raw egg on a vehicle down a ramp, and they try to protect the egg with some kind of restraint device they make.

Second graders learn about flowers, plants and pollination, and their end project is to build a seed spreader.

Through Project Lead the Way and the STEM curriculum, students are preparing for the jobs of the future, Pitts said.They are learning problem solving. They are learning that failure is okay and that it may take them a few times before they are successful.

They also are finding out that their ideas and answers may not look the same as someone else's, and, "That's still OK, too. There are a lot of ways to solve the same problem," Pitts said.

On Tuesday, some of her fifth-grade students worked with the pendulums, a review of what they had learned last year.

Student Lainy Gilman, who demonstrated her pendulum project, enjoys Pitts' class. "It's fun to come in the morning and build something new and learn something new about science and technology. It's different than other classes we have. That's what I like about it," Gilman said.

Gilman said she likes to create apps and code.

Another student, William Hooker, said he likes to build items in Pitts' class. Career wise, "I want to go into the Marines," he said.

Ella Rickard finds what she learns in Pitts' class "is really fun and she always finds new stuff for us to do." Rickard's favorite subject is math.

Pitts accomplishments include the following:

—Starting the PLTW Launch program in 2020-21 by teaching all students in all three elementary schools. She continued to do this during the 2021-22 school year.

—In summer of 2021, she hosted a STEM Summer Book Club for K-2 and 3-5 students to continue the engaging activities in the PLTW modules and to address learning loss.

—She hosted an after-school STEM Club in each elementary school.

—Because of her success with the district-wide PLTW Launch program, the school board approved the addition of two more PLTW Launch/STEM Lab teachers for the 2022-23 school year.

Now the district has one full-time teacher in each elementary building teaching the PLTW modules and providing math interventions in grades K-2. Pitts spent much time this summer mentoring the teachers in this new role.

According to a district news release, Pitts "is determined to make all STEM-related learning activities accessible and inclusive. She knows that females, minorities, and impoverished students are often underrepresented in STEM fields, so she focuses on recruiting those student groups for her after-school and summer STEM programs."

Central Elementary principal Ryan Jenkins said that Pitts "is a tremendous asset to Central and the PLTW programming for the corporation. Without her hard work over the last few years, our PLTW programming would not be what it is today."

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.