Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visited the Keverian School to highlight the fourth annual statewide STEM Week.
Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Sen. Sal DoMenico, and School Committee member Joseph LaMonica joined school administrators, Supt. of Schools Priya Tahiliani, School Principal Alex Naumann, Assistant Principals Janet Taylor and Nerecesa Pires, and STEM Director Rupi Kaur in welcoming Polito to the school where she toured classrooms and spoke with students about the many opportunities that exist in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.
Polito observed the STEM-related, student-led projects in the classrooms and sparked the interest of the young learners with questions intended to promote the importance of gaining experience in STEM, noting the many career opportunities that exist for those who excel in the sciences.
“Anybody have any idea about what they might like to do someday?” Polito asked the students in teacher Emily Singer’s classroom.
“I want to a scientist,” replied one student.
“We like that,” said Polito.
“I want to be a veterinarian,” said another student.
Supt. Tahaliani lauded Lt. Gov. Polito’s visit to Everett as a way of promoting STEM Week and inspiring students.
“Having Lt. Governor Polito here to be able to visit and show the students how important this is, it makes the students feel a lot of confidence and feel pride in the work that they’re doing – and also to just hear her talk about how important these fields are – I think that means a lot to our students,” said Tahaliani. “
The superintendent also said Everett is excited about its advancement in STEM programming citywide.
“We’re doing some really exciting things with sciences and STEM in our schools,” said Tahaliani. “The Keverian School has been a school that has focused on STEM a lot, especially in the middle school grades, and we see how wonderful the results have been. And that’s why we want to push STEM learning to lower grades. To Ms. (Assistant Principal) Pires’ point, we want to make this happen earlier, so that’s why we’re focusing on bringing it to grades K-4.”
Seventh grade mathematics teacher Jacqueline Fallon said STEM Week provides an excellent foundation for students to collaborate on projects.
“We’re not always working on things that are collaborative,” said Fallon. “Sometimes we have to do things that are rote mathematics. So, to have a pre-packaged curriculum come to us, that is very collaborative, and problem-solving, it helps the students learn different fields that we might not always be learning, just in our math class. It helps them learn how to communicate effectively, how to collaborate with their peers, how to take turns – their idea might not be the one that gets used, but at least they are learning those kinds of skills in school, along with their math skills and their normal ELA skills.”
Monday’s visit was a triumph for Lt. Gov. Polito, the Everett school district, Keverian School students, and their proud principal, Alex Naumann.
Naumann proudly noted the many Keverian students who go on to study in the Everett High School STEM Program. The popular administrator also seemed to take considerable pride in the positive exchanges that his students – who were courteous, respectful, and academically engaged in the classrooms – had with Lt. Polito during her 90-minute visit to the school.