Historically, it’s a no brainer. Survey kids and usually most of them will tell you they prefer a P.E. class over a math one.
When it comes to STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – education, those subjects tend to pale in popularity overall. Educators find students have more difficulty retaining those concepts, which are crucial in many daily applications and jobs.
If only there was a way to harness the approachability of sports and use it to make those subjects approachable as well.
Phoenix-based STEM Sports does just that. Since 2016, it has provided standards-aligned K-8 supplemental curricula that enhance students’ STEM skills with sports as real-life applications to teach those subjects.
How does STEM Sports work?
Specific programs center on a number of sports including football, baseball, basketball, soccer, golf and even lacrosse and BMX.
The programming is offered during the school day, after-school programs and camps. Educators have found this unique combination of physical activity and cognitive thinking to be successful, said STEM Sports CEO Jeff Golner.
“They can engage their students with sports and in this method, they are weaving in academics. Students are playing a sport while teachers implement the education behind it,” Golner said.
For example, when a math teacher does a division lesson, instead of writing numbers on a board the teacher grabs a bag of basketballs and heads out onto the court. After students take 10 shots, each one’s makes and misses are charted. At the end of the lesson, everyone gets their own field goal percentage like Phoenix Sun Devin Booker or Phoenix Mercury Diana Taurasi.
Teachers have found this engagement is effective in making sure these concepts stick.
“We’re having real success in making that connection for students who haven’t quite seen the math or it’s not clicking… The next time they play or see that sport, there’s a recall that happens,” Golner said.
The program is being used in 49 states, including more than two dozen school districts in Arizona, Golner said.
The program includes a jobs component that enables teachers to explain why these concepts are important to students who ask, “Why do I need to know this?” It equips them with the information to draw a connection between an engineering lesson and an interest in building or architecture, or how science is key to a physical therapy career.
STEM jobs are projected to grow 8.8% through 2029, a higher rate than non-STEM jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With cuts to the school day, schools look to get kids moving with more physical activity. By accomplishing the rarity of STEM with a physical activity component, this serves as double duty.
“Schools come to us as another fun way to learn,” Golner said of his clients.
Helping students connect lessons to their future careers
Mesquite Junior High School math teacher Haley Mercy persuaded her principal to get STEM Sports in her classroom nearly two years ago.
At the time, an elective that Mercy taught was being taken away. She sought a fun class she could teach and discovered STEM Sports.
“I thought, oh my gosh, this is perfect. This is what I want to be teaching,” said Mercy, who is also the head of Mesquite’s math department. “It’s a really cool way to integrate sports and academics.”
Mercy teaches STEM Sports to 50 students. She has seen proof of it being more successful in the retainment of knowledge than previous methods. Mercy said students are immediately hooked and when they start learning become vested.
“Often I have to fight with students to get them to do things, but with this program, this is not the case,” Mercy said. “They’re the ones saying, ‘Ooh, let’s do this! Ooh, let’s do that!’”
Mercy said the program helps students comprehend concepts like the pythagorean theorem, ones that they learn but don’t quite understand. But in sports, they have a real world application that goes a long way toward retention. She also has noticed a huge boost in students’ confidence.
“It’s such a cool class for students and it’s a cool class to be able to teach,” Mercy said. “I feel like where we’re going in education has to be more real world, this provides that for you so effortlessly.”
Amy Rosengren, sixth-grade science teacher at the Choice Learning Academy in the Alhambra Elementary School District, has seen positive results from teaching STEM Sports over the last three years.
Something as simple as questioning why a basketball bounces better in the morning than in the afternoon builds a curiosity that transfers into other areas and topics. Rosengren said the typical student question of “Why are we doing this?” disappears.
“They stop asking the ‘Why?’ and instead say, ‘This is so cool!’” said Rosengren, also a former sports coach. “They don’t think of it as particles moving. They think, ‘We’re playing basketball.’ We get to tie that subject and topic to something that’s relevant to them.”
The program also lets students see how their education has an impact on their careers.
“For them, their career life is a long way from now. Kids are connecting these things to the kind of careers they want,” Rosengren said. “It gives them something to hold on to.”
Expanding from schools to parents
An Arizona native and marketing and public relations veteran whose resume includes working for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, Golner’s marketing agency took on STEM Sports as a client before acquiring it in 2017.
In October, Golner made this program available directly to families with the All-Star Kit. Geared toward ages 8-14, the model was triggered by the pandemic and the reality that parents may have to teach their children at home.
The kit goes for $59.80 a month for five consecutive months, or an upfront payment of $249 for five months. Each kit includes the lesson and all equipment needed to carry it out.
No athletic ability or special STEM skills are required. This has been a popular gift option for those wishing to increase the youth in their lives’ physical activity and decrease their screen time.
Golner is in discussions with professional and college sports teams to coordinate getting these into youth programs. A tight end with the Cincinnati Bengals took a kit to a school that he works with.
The result, Golner hopes, is to enable more students to be prepared to have a STEM career when they are ready for the workforce.
“It’s still all about the kids,” Golner said. “But it’s also about how the power of sports can have a major impact on any child and their future.”
What: STEM Sports
Where: 1601 N. Seventh St., Suite 400, Phoenix
Employees: Three
Interesting stat: STEM jobs are projected to grow 8.8% through 2029, a higher rate than non-STEM jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Details: 602-845-0316, stemsports.com