Spark Strategic Plan 2023: Endowment Funds Spark Classroom Inspiration
This story originally appeared in the Spark 2023 Impact Update, a publication highlighting the accomplishments of St. Stephen's 5-year strategic plan.
Russ Glenn's seventh grade coding and robotics program would not have been reimagined and revamped without a grant from the Borders Family Endowment for Faculty Innovation. The endowment funded the purchase of a classroom set of twelve Cue robots with professional development modules that Glenn worked through to determine how the robots worked and how they could best be incorporated into the classroom.
“When they announced the innovation grant, I thought, ‘well, this sounds perfect for what I’m looking for,’” says Glenn, Middle School science instructor. “These robots are not inexpensive. And so just to be able to hear yes to everything I asked for was amazing.”
While the coding and robotics program was already in place in the Middle School, Glenn had often thought about ways his class and the curriculum could improve to be more engaging for his students.
“I was teaching that class the first year, but I thought what would really make this great is if the kids had a robot where they were implementing their coding with the robot, partially for the instant gratification,” says Glenn.
Paired with the robots, Glenn introduced block coding and JavaScript with the goal of creating more engagement while helping his students think like professional engineers.
“We use things every day that we don’t really know how they work,” says Glenn. “This is just one way that the kids can get a glimpse – when they see a video of a robot that some company has put together, they’ll have an appreciation for what went into that particular robot.”
Using code, programming and Bluetooth technology, Glenn’s students are teaching their robots how to dance, move and navigate obstacles on the classroom floor, change colors and more.
“One of the things that’s sort of woven throughout this and that I worked through the grant was to get the engineering design process integrated into the curriculum so that the kids are always challenged,” says Glenn. “I give them problems every week to solve and then they have to try to code it, and see if their robot runs correctly. If it doesn’t, they have to go back and tweak the code until it works correctly. And I also want to train them in systematically approaching a problem.”
“I think there’s a dynamic tension at our school that works really well,” says Dean of Faculty Wallis Goodman. “Faculty have an enduring commitment to analytical thinking and writing and the preservation of a curriculum that gives teachers space and latitude to pursue and investigate teaching and learning in a way that has really deep roots so that when our students leave here, they’re really good thinkers and writers.”
Glenn’s classroom is just one of many at St. Stephen’s benefiting from the Borders Family Endowment for Faculty Innovation. Five endowments, totaling $1 million, were established in conjunction with Spark 2023, including Borders, the Lorenz Family Faculty Development Fund, the Lydia Cornwell ‘17 Faculty Development Endowment, the Brooke Howe-Laws Endowment for Professional Development and the Laura Camp Endowed Faculty Chair. Each endowment was established to support and sustain dynamic faculty and to foster their continual professional growth, development and innovation.
“Teachers really are harnessing technology in ways that I think are effective and help to show students that they’re thinking about the student experience in the classroom,” said Goodman.
Faculty have access to greater resources that enable them to attend workshops, conferences and purchase resources — with the intention of returning to the classroom equipped with fresh ideas and a well planned and thoughtful implementation strategy.
“Strong and well funded endowments are a vital way that schools support their faculty, and how a school continues to grow from strength to strength,” says April Speck-Ewer, director of advancement. “As we look toward celebrating our 75th anniversary, we recognize that we stand on the shoulders of the many donors who came before us and invested in our school. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we continue to build the resources that serve today’s students as well as position the school for continued success over the next 75 years. Adding $1 million for faculty growth and development is a resounding vote of confidence in our teachers — their work is at the heart of our school."
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Russ Glenn's seventh grade coding and robotics program would not have been reimagined and revamped without a grant from the Borders Family Endowment for Faculty Innovation. The endowment funded the purchase of a classroom set of twelve Cue robots with professional development modules that Glenn worked through to determine how the robots worked and how they could best be incorporated into the classroom.
“When they announced the innovation grant, I thought, ‘well, this sounds perfect for what I’m looking for,’” says Glenn, Middle School science instructor. “These robots are not inexpensive. And so just to be able to hear yes to everything I asked for was amazing.”
While the coding and robotics program was already in place in the Middle School, Glenn had often thought about ways his class and the curriculum could improve to be more engaging for his students.
“I was teaching that class the first year, but I thought what would really make this great is if the kids had a robot where they were implementing their coding with the robot, partially for the instant gratification,” says Glenn.
Paired with the robots, Glenn introduced block coding and JavaScript with the goal of creating more engagement while helping his students think like professional engineers.
“We use things every day that we don’t really know how they work,” says Glenn. “This is just one way that the kids can get a glimpse – when they see a video of a robot that some company has put together, they’ll have an appreciation for what went into that particular robot.”
Using code, programming and Bluetooth technology, Glenn’s students are teaching their robots how to dance, move and navigate obstacles on the classroom floor, change colors and more.
“One of the things that’s sort of woven throughout this and that I worked through the grant was to get the engineering design process integrated into the curriculum so that the kids are always challenged,” says Glenn. “I give them problems every week to solve and then they have to try to code it, and see if their robot runs correctly. If it doesn’t, they have to go back and tweak the code until it works correctly. And I also want to train them in systematically approaching a problem.”
“I think there’s a dynamic tension at our school that works really well,” says Dean of Faculty Wallis Goodman. “Faculty have an enduring commitment to analytical thinking and writing and the preservation of a curriculum that gives teachers space and latitude to pursue and investigate teaching and learning in a way that has really deep roots so that when our students leave here, they’re really good thinkers and writers.”
Glenn’s classroom is just one of many at St. Stephen’s benefiting from the Borders Family Endowment for Faculty Innovation. Five endowments, totaling $1 million, were established in conjunction with Spark 2023, including Borders, the Lorenz Family Faculty Development Fund, the Lydia Cornwell ‘17 Faculty Development Endowment, the Brooke Howe-Laws Endowment for Professional Development and the Laura Camp Endowed Faculty Chair. Each endowment was established to support and sustain dynamic faculty and to foster their continual professional growth, development and innovation.
“Teachers really are harnessing technology in ways that I think are effective and help to show students that they’re thinking about the student experience in the classroom,” said Goodman.
Faculty have access to greater resources that enable them to attend workshops, conferences and purchase resources — with the intention of returning to the classroom equipped with fresh ideas and a well planned and thoughtful implementation strategy.
“Strong and well funded endowments are a vital way that schools support their faculty, and how a school continues to grow from strength to strength,” says April Speck-Ewer, director of advancement. “As we look toward celebrating our 75th anniversary, we recognize that we stand on the shoulders of the many donors who came before us and invested in our school. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we continue to build the resources that serve today’s students as well as position the school for continued success over the next 75 years. Adding $1 million for faculty growth and development is a resounding vote of confidence in our teachers — their work is at the heart of our school."
Address: 6500 St. Stephen's Dr., Austin, TX 78746
Phone: (512) 327-1213
Phone: (512) 327-1213