CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Kenwood Middle School students have won the STEM Showdown Competition and $1,000 by completing the most online STEM lessons of any school in Tennessee.

Students at Kenwood completed more than 9,000 online STEM lessons since November. STEM is a common acronym in education that stands for (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Learning Blade®, from Chattanooga-based Thinking Media introduces STEM careers while demonstrating relevance of academics in these careers. The Award was presented at the statewide Tennessee STEM Innovation Network (TSIN) Innovation Summit in Nashville.

Clarksville Montgomery Director of Schools Dr. BJ Worthington along with members of his staff, were happy to receive the award on behalf of Kenwood Middle School. Dr. Worthington noted, “STEM is a major focus throughout our district and we are always excited about having resources to complement our curriculum. Learning Blades allowed the Kenwood Middle School students the opportunity to solve real world problems from the planning and research stages to prototype development.”

Kenwood Middle School teacher Jennifer Ferebee, uses Learning Blade in her Career Technical Education STEM classroom.

According to Ferebee, “The Learning Blade program is a tremendous asset in my STEM program. Learning Blade exposes the students to real life applications of math and science with problem based missions to complete. After trying different supplemental curriculum, Learning Blade is by far my students’ favorite.” Ferebee was first introduced to the online STEM curriculum during an afterschool training hosted by the county in November of 2015.

Learning Blade’s effective technology is statistically proven to increase interest in STEM careers with over 70% of participating students indicating that they learn about new careers while also doubling in the number of students who identify as wanting to be a scientist or engineer. The Tennessee STEM Innovation Network with legislative support made a bold move leading the country in making a supplemental STEM career awareness curriculum available at no cost to all middle schools in the state. Learning Blade will remain free to all schools in Tennessee through TSIN.

For more information on TSIN and Learning Blade STEM education initiatives, visit www.tsin.org/learningblade