The Elementary Technology, Library/Technology, and STEAM program at Elizabethtown Area School District (EASD) was awarded the Elementary Program Excellence Award from the Technology and Engineering Education Association of Pennsylvania on Oct. 20. This award is one of the highest honors given to technology and engineering education programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels throughout the state. It is presented in recognition of the program's outstanding contributions to the education profession.

EASD has designed its elementary-level program to give students experiences with a variety of STEAM and technology content and skills. Students learn to use technology safely and responsibly to communicate, create, collaborate, and acquire information. The students learn and work through the engineering design process and practice problem-solving through hands-on learning that includes real-world applications. Students also learn the foundational skills of coding, computational thinking, and the importance of perseverance.

At EASD's two primary elementary buildings, Bainbridge and East High Street elementary schools, all students receive both technology and STEAM as separate classes. Debra Painter teaches the primary-level technology classes. In these classes, students learn basic computer skills and a variety of digital citizenship topics, including the qualities of a good digital citizen, staying safe while working online, and protecting their digital footprints. Through the use of tools like Google Slides and Google Drawings, students learn and practice basic word processing skills and elements of design, including text, fonts, images, and drawing tools.

First- and second-graders also spend time learning about and applying basic coding skills. Students use Blockly and drag-and-drop coding in programs like Code.org and Kodable to build algorithms, debug, create loops, and apply conditions. Each year since 2015, primary students have participated in the Hour of Code during Computer Science Education Week.

In the primary STEAM class, taught by Crystal Hirst, students engage in building and design challenges where they are given a specific task as well as free building time. They use various materials such as Magna tiles, straws and connectors, Legos, Keva planks, and marble run sets in their solutions. Students engage in building design challenges and activities while they learn about simple machines, stability, and structure, as well as improve spatial awareness and problem-solving skills. Bridges, 3D shapes, towers, and buildings are just a few of the hands-on building structures created in class. The primary STEAM class also includes coding with robots both independently and collaboratively.

For students at the Bear Creek School - which educates students in grades three through five - Library/Technology is one class. Erin Hibshman, the school librarian, teaches the library and research skills portion of the curriculum, and Trevor Gontz, the school's technology and engineering teacher, teaches technology skills.

The engineering units and research projects are co-taught by Hibshman and Gontz. Through these activities, students learn to research and make safe and responsible use of technology with various tools and the engineering design process at all three grade levels. Topics covered in these grades are research skills, graphic design with Google Drawings, word processing with Google Docs, email with Gmail and Schoology Messages, CAD/3D modeling with Tinkercad & Sketchup for Schools, coding with Scratch, multimedia presentations with Google Slides, and the engineering design process, which students use while working in teams to create hands-on projects.