Five middle school students from Kent School were accepted in to the METS Guild of Chestertown at the Washington College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program. Ty Wilson, Severin Schut and Evan LaPointe, seventh grade students, will be in the 3D Visualization and Gaming Track while eighth grade student Spencer McKenzie and seventh grade student Katherine Pagano will be in the Web Designs track.
According to their website, “The Washington College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program operates a very successful experiential learning program for college students (and some high school students) in a guild environment where students learn by working on funded projects. We will extend this program to reach 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students from the region in what we will call the METS Guild of Chestertown. Our goal is to turn STEM education around by providing an innovative out of class environment where students learn by working on real world project hence our use of the term METS, which stands for Mathematics, Engineering, Technology, and Science.
The METS Guild will be led by Journeymen Leaders from the Washington College GIS Guild and will have three METS tracks in web design, 3d visualization, and GIS. Participants will be competitively selected from local schools and each track will have up to 16 students led by a Journeymen Leader with a qualified Apprentice II providing assistance. The Guild will utilize existing computer lab resources at Washington College and will meet on the weekends starting in October 2015. All participants will start at the Junior Apprentice guild level and will have to successfully complete an eight-week training program. Once the training program has been completed, they will then start to work on real world projects within their given technology track.”
Ben Joiner, Assistant Head of School said, “We are extremely proud of Ty, Evan, Spencer, Severin and Katherine and their commitment to learning and seeking new challenges. Each student completed a rigorous application process in a timely manner and all were accepted. They truly demonstrated maturity and personal responsibility in the process.” Joiner continued, “The Kent School community is eager to see the fruits of their involvement in the guild.” Chris Gorycki, Kent School’s Headmaster said, “At Kent School we are committed to four core values of integrity, respect, responsibility and friendship. These five students clearly demonstrated all of those values in the application process and I know they will continue to make us proud throughout the sixteen week course.”
Kent School is an independent school located in Chestertown serving boys and girls from pre-k through eighth grade. Kent School’s mission is to guide students in realizing their potential for academic, artistic, athletic, and moral excellence. The school’s family-oriented, supportive, student-centered environment fosters the growth of honorable, responsible citizens for our country and our diverse world. For more information visit www.kentschool.org or call 410-778-4100 ext. 110.
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