Expert on environment growing new Kent Center School science program

KENT — New Kent Center School (KCS) science teacher Josh Szwed was introduced to the Board of Education at the  special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 8. He started at the school in September.

Szwed is in his first year at KCS. He was hired to teach fifth- and sixth-grade science as well as a specifically designed seventh-grade STEM research class and an elementary grade special enrichment program.

Szwed grew up in Saranac Lake, N.Y., and went to school at Syracuse University and SUNY ESF (the state’s college of environmental science and forestry, which is associated with Syracuse University). His focus was on environmental programs. Upon graduation, Szwed received his teaching certification and began teaching science in the Syracuse area and then in western Kentucky.

After seven years in Kentucky, he and his wife, Carrie, moved to Kent in 2014 to be closer to family in New Jersey and upstate New York. Szwed was hired at KCS to teach science; his wife took a position as the education director at White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield.

Szwed talked with the board about the material he’s covered since the beginning of the school year in his classes. 

The fifth grade has focused on the scientific method as well as on learning about sound and light energy. 

The sixth grade has studied the scientific method along with covering weather and learning different forms of measurements. The class is also responsible for publishing a regional information report that will cover extreme weather; it will come out later in the winter.

The seventh-grade STEM research class consists of five students and covered topics such as mechanical and structural engineering. For an interactive project, the students were given the task of creating a space shuttle launch platform out of index cards, with the stipulation that each card cost $10,000 — so the fewer cards used the better. 

The class also made their own ballpoint pens using different solvents. The solvents used were chosen based on properties they possessed that were deemed desirable for ink. On grandparents day, the students also made their own ice cream. The class manipulated the ingredients to improve characteristics such as taste and freezability.

Szwed explained the different forms of technology that have been incorporated into the program. Students have began using Chromebooks in the classroom, which allow for the posting of assignments, instructional videos and other materials in the event of a teacher’s absence from class. He is also doing a comprehensive review of all technology to determine more effective uses.

To wrap up the presentation, Szwed discussed the KCS Wildlife Habitat. The project is designed to make improvements to the school’s campus to attract and provide better habitats for wild birds, butterflies and other desirable wildlife. 

Students will learn how to identify different bird species as well as design and build bird feeders and houses to be placed around the grounds. They will also be responsible for planting, construction and maintenance of habitat gardens as well as studying, observing, collecting and submitting data for real research studies.