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STEM in Education

    From the very beginnings of our educational careers, our teachers emphasize the importance of the three R’s: reading, writing, and arithmetic. As we advance, it becomes apparent that these disciplines are not viewed as equally important. In fact, reading and writing, even humanities as a whole, are implicitly denoted as inferior objects lacking in practical applications.

    Because of this, educators have chosen to allocate more time, resources, and energy into STEM classes, which includes science, math, technology, and mathematics. Rather than set aside space, staff, and supplies for a fine arts class, many administrators would prefer to channel these resources into an intro to computer programming class. While such classes would help to prepare students for careers in the STEM field, not all students are best suited to such a field. While the STEM field is now chock full of promising careers with great opportunities for advancement, many students find that attempting a science or math career would be similar to trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Because individuals, and therefore students, have a wide spectrum of interests and skills, it is imperative that administrators and educators make an effort to prepare students for careers in a number of fields, not just those that fall under the STEM umbrella.

    By delegating a higher number of classrooms, teachers, or funds to STEM classes, administrators drastically limit the number of opportunities for students who wish to expand their aptitude in fields such as English, history, and the arts. For example, many schools offer a number of math classes that allow students to pick and choose courses and, as well as adjust the rate at which they advance. In doing so, such a school limits its students to AP or standard track English and history courses, with little or no opportunities for studying the fine arts.

     In the past few years, MCMt. Carmel has begun to go the way of many other high schools by favoring STEM classes with little regard for its arts. Shortly after our administrators opted to no longer continue offering British Literature, they then chose to lump journalism and yearbook into the same room, while offering up what had once been headquarters to The Sunthe MC Sun to AP Computer Science.

    But alas, this is just one instance of schools who choose to undervalue the arts. While many students will undoubtedly benefit from the many STEM classes offered, many others will suffer from being denied the opportunity to advance in a humanities- based field.

Written by Katherine Resko

Katherine is a Senior at Mt.Carmel and is currently a web editor for the MC Sun. She hopes to study English Literature in the Pacific Northwest once she graduates.

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