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The promise of STEM for those on the spectrum

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

If there is one concern more than any other which parents voice, it is: What will my child do after graduation? What college or career is appropriate? What will they be or become? This concern about the future for their son or daughter is not without merit. Even the most favorable statistics show that the… Continue reading

Once, twice, thrice exceptional

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

In just a few short weeks, schools will open for the 2015-2016 academic year, carrying with them the hopes and dreams of their students for their future lives and livelihoods. The choice which school to send your child to is an increasingly difficult one: there are public schools and private ones, there are non-public schools… Continue reading

Social behavior and lifelong success

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

An article recently published details the results of a study showing that pro-social behavior among kindergartners is a strong indicator of which children will be successful later in life–E. Jones, Mark Greenberg, and Max Crowley. (2015). Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness. American Journal of Public… Continue reading

Living in a Digital Age

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

We live in an age of driverless cars, thought-controlled biomechanical limbs, and robots shifting heavy pallets of goods across warehouse floors. These were all dreams of yesterday, and each was supposed to take decades to be realized, if it could be realized at all. But here they are. Google’s driverless cars routinely glide along the… Continue reading

What is the best college for you?

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

The published lists of best colleges in the nation are relatively unchanged from year to year—at the top are the prestigious, expensive, often research-heavy and well-endowed institutions, the ones that many aspire to and that all others are often compared to. But does the best college for you necessarily rank high on the list? Wouldn’t… Continue reading

The path to excellence

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

On August 25th 2015, STEM3 Academy will open its doors to students with social and learning differences, grades 9 through 12, in time for the 2015/16 academic year. The first of its kind in the country, STEM3 Academy is unique in providing a rich and varied curriculum designed to develop the natural skills and abilities… Continue reading

STEM in the real world

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

How do modern successful companies prepare for future workforce needs? How do they guarantee that there will be a steady pipeline of qualified candidates ready to fill the burgeoning demand for technically trained individuals? If you’re the Ford Motor Company, you start an initiative called Next Generation Learning to bring real-world problems into the classroom,… Continue reading

How do you change the world?

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

A FIRST Robotics Championship is a spectacle to behold. Throngs of students crowd the stands, the blocks of colored t-shirts marking their stake in the match below. The music thunders, the beat is insistent. Flags sway side to side, propelled in rhythm by the students wielding them. And then there are the robots: bots from… Continue reading

How to improve upon perfection

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow 2 Comments

Last weekend, Village Glen High School participated in the Regional championship for FIRST Robotics. Competition was tight. The 41 teams that participated were some of the best in Southern California, and some of them had already participated in other Regionals, as they are allowed to do, and won awards there. The level of engineering design… Continue reading

STEM and SPED

Published on: Author: Ellis Crasnow Leave a comment

It is now regarded as a truism that many of those with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) who are at the upper end of the spectrum have specific talents and abilities that lend themselves particularly well to STEM pursuits. It is equally true that those with an ASD thrive when provided with supports that mitigate… Continue reading