Four middle school students from Kent School were accepted into the METS Guild of Chestertown at the Washington College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program. Eighth grade students Dylan Conner and Evan LaPointe and seventh grade students Reed Ferguson and Sage Cookerly will be participating in this ten-week training course. This is the second consecutive year that Evan has participated. He, along with Sage and Reed will be in the 3-D and Gaming track while Dylan will be in GPS Mapping.
Pictured from left to right: Sage Cookerly, Dylan Conner, Reed Ferguson and Evan LaPointe
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.”
Nancy Mugele, Head of School said, “We are extremely proud of Connor, Dylan, Reed and Sage and their commitment to seek new academic challenges. The students completed a rigorous application process which required recommendations from the faculty. They truly demonstrated maturity and personal responsibility throughout the process.” Mugele continued, “At Kent School we are committed to four core values of integrity, respect, responsibility and friendship. Connor, Dylan, Reed and Sage clearly demonstrated all of those values in the application process and I know they will continue to represent themselves and Kent School in an exemplary manner throughout this learning adventure. The Kent School community is eager to share in the successes of their involvement in the METS Guild.”
Kent School, located in historic Chestertown, MD is an independent day school serving children from Preschool through eighth grade. The School’s mission is to guide our students in realizing their potential for academic, artistic, athletic, and moral excellence. Our 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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