STEM vs. STEAM

[Jon Stratis]

I think everyone has, so far, focused on what's contained in STEM and STEAM. But to me, I want to know what the purpose of the acronyms are.

Why are we concerned with STEM? The general argument I've always heard is that we need more scientists and engineers. That the world is moving forward with technology and we need to adjust our education system to create students well suited to take advantage of that path. In other words, STEM is important because we want to bring those fields to the forefront of our educational system and make sure they don't get ignored.

What about Arts? What could we gain by including them in this push? Well, for one many Arts pursuits are grounded in Math and science. Think of music, how you can create harmonics and dissonance, beats and patterns defined and made beautiful through the math and physics involved. Think of art, how some wavelengths of light are complementary on a pallet while others aren't, how certain ratios are found pleasing to the eye and the difficulty of achieving the balance needed to draw a beautiful human face.

But that's a lot of what others have said - what's contained within the Arts category. If we look at the purpose of including Arts, it's to give students creative and artistic outlets in class. Unfortunately, art programs are some of the first ones to be cut in our schools when they face budget cuts. Millions of students are going through their k-12 programs without having the option to join choir or band, or to pursue painting or theater.

We all have our passions, and many of those who frequent CD are passionate about STEM, not the Arts. But when I look at teams and students across FIRST, some of the best one's I've seen achieve a balance. Yes, they love the robot, but they also participate in sports, engage in artistic pursuits, and do stuff outside of FIRST to grow other parts of their mind and personalities. Being well rounded, in my opinion, is much more important for personal health than being solely focused and dedicated to one pursuit. And that's why adding a focus on Arts in our schools can be an important part of our society.