WCS, Zimmer Partnership Solidified
April 24, 2018 at 5:26 p.m.
WCS, Zimmer Partnership Solidified
By David [email protected]
During the WCS Board of Trustees meeting Monday night, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert read a news releasing announcing a grant award from Zimmer Biomet for $150,000.
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“We are so thankful and excited to partner with Zimmer Biomet on continuing to move STEM forward within Warsaw Community Schools,” said Hoffert. “Their continued growth of funding shows a strong commitment to our students, schools and community. These funds will be utilized to continue growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, ensuring that WCS stays a leader in the field.
“STEM education is critical to our local and global workforce and WCS is thankful to Zimmer Biomet for partnering to create the next generation of industry leaders and workforce.”
Over the past year, Zimmer Biomet’s support has provided numerous educational opportunities for students, including the annual Elementary Robotics Showcase.
Grant dollars provided by Zimmer Biomet have also provided solar eclipse glasses to students to provide a safe viewing experience, Lego educational materials to assist in curriculum development, makerspace training for staff, partnership network development, consumable resources for the WCS WILL (STEM) bus and numerous other opportunities.
After reading the release, Hoffert said WCS presented a couple of certificates to Hallie Brinkerhuff, who attended the meeting on behalf of Zimmer Biomet.
Hoffert said he and Brinkerhuff met in 2014 and she’s been a part of WCS’s ride in STEM education since. He said she had dreams that STEM would become an academic centerpiece of the school community and WCS would continue to build on that.
“We worked with Hallie to put together a strategic plan around STEM initiatives, and I’m happy to say that four years later we’ve exceeded all those goals,” Hoffert said.
The other dream Brinkerhuff had was for Zimmer Biomet to become a strong partner with WCS and its STEM program, which she has helped foster, he said.
“So we’re very grateful to Hallie and we’re very grateful to Zimmer Biomet. This is an incredible investment in the future of our students and an investment in our school corporation,” Hoffert said.
Hoffert also presented certificates to David Burden, Washington STEM Academy instructional coach, and Krista Polston, WCS grants and special projects coordinator.
Burden’s certificate was for his commitment to STEM education and helping lead WCS in that, while Polston’s was for her continued visionary leadership in grants.
Burden recalled having a conversation with Brinkerhuff about having a robotics event for students with an academic feel that had the same hype as a Warsaw basketball game.
The third annual showcase wrapped up in March. Students from all eight WCS elementaries participated in “a showcase-style, science-fair style robotics showcase where students had an engineering challenge ... and the second side of the challenge was the programming challenge,” he said.
Over 200 students participated, with over 500 parents, families and community members attending the event. Local partnerships included Owen’s, Meijer, Walmart and Rise & Roll Bakery to help offset some of the costs. There were 48 volunteers, with 31 specifically from Zimmer Biomet, Burden said.
Burden said the response to the event was overly positive.
“You see kids walking out of these events extremely encouraged, regardless of how their robot performed that day. They learned things, they moved forward from what they knew beforehand, which is always the objective of STEM education, to be able to show students they can go further than where they were,” he said.
During the WCS Board of Trustees meeting Monday night, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert read a news releasing announcing a grant award from Zimmer Biomet for $150,000.
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“We are so thankful and excited to partner with Zimmer Biomet on continuing to move STEM forward within Warsaw Community Schools,” said Hoffert. “Their continued growth of funding shows a strong commitment to our students, schools and community. These funds will be utilized to continue growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, ensuring that WCS stays a leader in the field.
“STEM education is critical to our local and global workforce and WCS is thankful to Zimmer Biomet for partnering to create the next generation of industry leaders and workforce.”
Over the past year, Zimmer Biomet’s support has provided numerous educational opportunities for students, including the annual Elementary Robotics Showcase.
Grant dollars provided by Zimmer Biomet have also provided solar eclipse glasses to students to provide a safe viewing experience, Lego educational materials to assist in curriculum development, makerspace training for staff, partnership network development, consumable resources for the WCS WILL (STEM) bus and numerous other opportunities.
After reading the release, Hoffert said WCS presented a couple of certificates to Hallie Brinkerhuff, who attended the meeting on behalf of Zimmer Biomet.
Hoffert said he and Brinkerhuff met in 2014 and she’s been a part of WCS’s ride in STEM education since. He said she had dreams that STEM would become an academic centerpiece of the school community and WCS would continue to build on that.
“We worked with Hallie to put together a strategic plan around STEM initiatives, and I’m happy to say that four years later we’ve exceeded all those goals,” Hoffert said.
The other dream Brinkerhuff had was for Zimmer Biomet to become a strong partner with WCS and its STEM program, which she has helped foster, he said.
“So we’re very grateful to Hallie and we’re very grateful to Zimmer Biomet. This is an incredible investment in the future of our students and an investment in our school corporation,” Hoffert said.
Hoffert also presented certificates to David Burden, Washington STEM Academy instructional coach, and Krista Polston, WCS grants and special projects coordinator.
Burden’s certificate was for his commitment to STEM education and helping lead WCS in that, while Polston’s was for her continued visionary leadership in grants.
Burden recalled having a conversation with Brinkerhuff about having a robotics event for students with an academic feel that had the same hype as a Warsaw basketball game.
The third annual showcase wrapped up in March. Students from all eight WCS elementaries participated in “a showcase-style, science-fair style robotics showcase where students had an engineering challenge ... and the second side of the challenge was the programming challenge,” he said.
Over 200 students participated, with over 500 parents, families and community members attending the event. Local partnerships included Owen’s, Meijer, Walmart and Rise & Roll Bakery to help offset some of the costs. There were 48 volunteers, with 31 specifically from Zimmer Biomet, Burden said.
Burden said the response to the event was overly positive.
“You see kids walking out of these events extremely encouraged, regardless of how their robot performed that day. They learned things, they moved forward from what they knew beforehand, which is always the objective of STEM education, to be able to show students they can go further than where they were,” he said.
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