Melissa Calandra has been teaching at John Kennedy Intermediate School in Batavia for 19 years in both second and fourth-grade. Some of the children she taught are likely in upper management roles at banks today. Some of them are probably chefs in a restaurant. Some on an assembly line. Some farmers. Some might even be teachers themselves. And, unfortunately, some of them are almost certainly out of work.
Her new program, the Fourth-Grade Innovators series, hopes to change that. It’s a new workforce development program that she has installed at John Kennedy for 200 fourth-grade students. It has a focus on STEAM, or Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics. Students have one day per month in which they get to learn about different advanced skills that are burgeoning in industry and will have bountiful job opportunities when they get fitted for their caps and try on their gowns.
“If you say ‘STEAM’ their eyes light up,” said Calandra of her students.
Each month the students are exposed to a different industry concentration. They’ve learned about DNA, electrical circuits, coding, and more.
Most importantly, there is a hands-on component. Students learned chemistry by making their own silly putty. They programed their own robotics and saw them in action on a Post Farms field trip. They rapped songs about environmental causes with Mr. Eco. They learned math while doing kinesthetic exercises—earning the program a grant from Lowes Toolbox for Education to purchase materials for the exercise next year.
“The big goal was to be activity based as opposed to just sitting and hearing a presentation,” said John Jakubowski, a consultant on workforce development for Genesee County Economic Development Council and a large reason why the program was installed.
GCEDC has made a concerted workforce development effort in the past few years. They have an adult training program in conjunction with local colleges. They have a food processing and agribusiness program with local BOCES and colleges. They constantly are trying to build stackable programs that can yield a job. And now, with a much younger focus, they’re trying to spark interest and curiosity.
“You have to get the teachers on board,” Jakubowski said. “They contact these kids 180 times per year.”
Luckily for Jakubowski, fourth-grade teacher Calandra came to him. The two found a common interest and launched this year. They plan to continue the program next year, too.
“What started as a conversation in the hallway has turned into something great,” Calandra said. “It is exciting. It is different. After teaching for 19 years, it has revived me.”
Now Calandra’s students are prepared to secure jobs in industries that match those available in their area. They can be scientists. They can use robotics on a dairy farm. They can become a graphic designer. They can code. They can do anything because they are equipped with the skillset and fostered an interest at a young age.
Oh, one more thing. One of the Calandra’s previous students came back to present to the fourth-grade innovators. She didn’t recognize him. He had a beard. And a job in chemistry.
