SRS Engineers Join Students in Buddy Program

AIKEN, S.C. – Sixth-graders near Savannah River Site (SRS) stretched their collective knowledge when the school building temporarily closed for a planned water outage, prompting staff members to challenge them to devise an innovative, efficient alternate water system.

   With the help of SRS engineers, the school’s teachers are incorporating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) into all of the curriculum, including English, history, and art. The new SRS Engineering Buddy Program integrates the site’s engineering resources with the school’s growing STEM program, allowing professionals to impact academia. 

   “I was proud of them. They took it in stride and performed well,” Jackson Middle School Principal Jason Holt said of the students.

   Holt says the students’ thirst for knowledge grows under the STEM-based system, which changes how information is delivered, processed, and understood.

   “This is a grassroots, teacher-driven, first-of-its-kind program in Aiken County,” he said. “One of our primary goals is to create a school of engineers and let the students reap the benefits, which is why we are so pleased with the SRS buddy program.”

   DOE Savannah River Office Manager Jack Craig said this initiative is one of several SRS educational outreach programs funded by DOE that target the growth of STEM-based education in the region.

   Kim Mitchell is the coordinator of the program managed by SRS management and operations contractor Savannah River Nuclear Solutions. She said the alternate water system exercise is a good example of how teachers can tap the wisdom and experience of SRS veteran engineers with STEM expertise.

   Even the school’s arts program reinforces what the students learn in STEM-based classes. For example, they learn about photosynthesis in science class and create artwork that shows how plants obtain energy in art class.

   “We no longer want our teachers to continually pour out information in a form of one-way communication, be it mathematics, history or any other subject area,” Holt said. “Our teachers have embraced this innovative concept of primarily being facilitators, encouraging an investigative, give-and-take approach that creates a questioning and discerning attitude towards learning. The increased student interaction and potential benefits related to this shift in perspective are endless.”

   Student growth will be measured twice a year, and the school will use this data to demonstrate the program’s practicality and effectiveness to parents.  

   “Our kids are really pushing us to take it to the next level,” Holt said. “They want to be challenged, and we want to create as many junior scholars as possible.”  

   Mitchell believes the partnership will stimulate the kids and reward SRS employees.

   “We want the SRS Engineering Buddy Program to result in the creation of a new instructional model involving SRS engineers working within the STEM system,” Mitchell said.