A Curriculum from
the Future Process of
Illumination
Data mining. Data science.
Computer forensic science.
Evolving technology has led to an
ever-growing market of job fields
and opportunities. Students change dramatically
during their time in high school.
Antoni likes to tell them, “You
come in as a Disney kid, and you
leave as a voting adult.”
Antoni keeps courses up to
date by regularly evaluating
the school’s curriculum — and
helping school administrators
determine where it goes next. She
researches emerging markets,
asking industry recruiters what
they seek. She also works with
colleges to find out what pertinent
courses they provide. Antoni eases that transition by
giving students a taste of the job
market. Her STEM lecture series
lets them meet and network with
four or five STEM professionals
each year. Participants can also
take part in the STEM shadow
program, following a professional
for a full or half-day.
“I interview successful graduates
who got into STEM fields,”
Antoni says. “I ask, ‘Where do
you feel we can improve our
curriculum to better prepare
our students for the future?’”
Their responses shape a
curriculum that helps students
better understand new
technologies — and themselves.
Antoni reminds her students to
keep an open mind. Many of the
professionals themselves describe
mid-career changes, bouncing
between different STEM fields.
“If you find out what you don’t
want to do, that’s still a good
learning experience,” Antoni
says. “It’s not static — it’s a
fluid process.”
“A student will come in as a Disney
kid, and leave as a voting adult.”
Mary Antoni accepting the Da Vinci Science Center’s
Hall of Fame Educator Excellence Award
6
Learning How to Lose
It was an article about STEM
dropout rates that made Antoni
realize she wanted to see students
“fail better”. According to the
article, many students fail in
STEM fields because they’ve never
learned how to work through
obstacles. In an age of instant
gratification, kids don’t know how
to pick themselves back up.
“It’s now a requirement in our
STEM department that every
student has to enter one contest a
year,” Antoni says. “It gives them
the opportunity to solely produce
a project, then compete on a
higher level.”
These contests present
opportunities for multi-
departmental, multi-school
collaborations. For an Earth
Week essay contest, STEM
students worked alongside the
school’s English Language Arts
department. Antoni also
partners with eight partner
elementary schools to facilitate
competitions like STEM Wars
and Math Marathon.
Lansdale Catholic even has a
competition of its own. Antoni
worked with LaSalle University to
bring its Open Mind Competition
in house. “We hope to get other
schools in the Archdiocese to take
part as well,” she says.