Middle School Students Improve STEM, Art Skills while using Technology

With distance learning part of the curriculum this year at Nooksack Valley Middle School, teachers have made use of the technology in the hands of students. 

NVMS students are using Chromebooks as part of their learning, allowing unit adjustments, says Joel VanderYacht, principal. The STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — curriculum has added stop-motion film to its mix and art classes incorporated graphic design. 

“Many of the skills students are learning will translate to the beginnings of skills necessary in the graphic design world and will enhance students’ ability to see themselves in jobs that enable them to use their creative abilities in the future,” VanderYacht says. 

Caitlyn Barone, the school’s visual arts teacher, says her students were able to make a logo for a fiction business as part of the graphic design introduction.