Before seventh and eighth grade math teacher Jim DeToro went to his teaching job at Liberty's LEAD Academy last week, he stopped at Giant Eagle to buy produce for his students' math class.
''They are learning the concepts of the rotation of objects, the reflections of objects, symmetry and dilation,'' DeToro said.
Earlier in the school year, representatives from the Granville School of Visual Arts from Granville, visited the school with ideas on how to incorporate art into the classes at the academy. For this project, DeToro said, students were using various vegetables and fruit as stencils to create a decoupage collage of the concepts being studied.
Samantha Barker, 12, left, and Amber Ortiz, 13, use slices of green peppers, mushrooms, strawberries and other produce to create art as a way of studying math concepts at the LEAD Academy in Liberty. LEAD, or Liberty Exemplary Academic Design, is a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) school that goes one step further by using liberal and performance arts to create a visual form of learning.
''I want them to make displays of object transformation as an art project,'' DeToro said.
''Some students have a hard time with concepts,'' said Kathie Carlile, the director of both LEAD and LEARN (Liberty Early Academic Resource Nest), at Liberty's middle and elementary schools.
''They don't understand how objects can move, especially when they are looking at figures in textbooks,'' she said.
By using art to create the concepts, students are using all of their senses and learning by visualization, Carlile said.
When one of his students suggested peeling the layers off an onion and stenciling it on the poster to suggest dilation, DeToro's excitement was evident.
''At that moment, I knew she grasped the concept,'' he said.
Using fresh produce as a teaching tool isn't the only way students incorporate art with their lessons. Students also used paper and cardstock to build simulated water bottles that they will later use as teaching tools for several subjects. The bottles could be any shape or color but were required to be no more than 400 cubic centimeters in size. In their language arts classes, students are learning how to develop an advertising campaign, which they will later use to market their particular bottle for sale.
''We aren't just a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) school,'' Carlile said. ''We infused the arts into the curriculum. Ours is a STEAM school.
''I don't know of any other STEAM schools in Ohio,'' she said.
Taking the program one step further, students at the school plan to use the techniques they are learning to help the community as well. Students recently completed designs of fitness trails, using the concept of scale to build the trail mock-ups, they also had to investigate the costs of building the trails. At a later Board of Education meeting, students will make proposals to the board to choose the best two trails. One will be a walking trail for senior citizens and the other will be fitness trail for families, Carlile said.
If approved, LEAD will construct the two trails near the schools for community use.
Students in the LEAD Academy study four languages during the school year, one each grading period that include Spanish, French, Arabic and American Sign Language. They also take instruction in robotics.
LEAD has partnered with other organizations for instructors and support, such as Youngstown State University's STEM department, Granville School of Visual Arts and Parker Hannifin Company for engineering concepts.
Students in both LEARN and LEAD, after studying the history of flags and their design, created their own flags, which are currently being sewn into real flags to be displayed at the entrances to both schools.
LEAD first opened for the 2010-2011 school year for seventh and eighth graders. According to Carlile, 50 students per grade were accepted, however, the program is expected to grow.
''I get calls every day from parents asking about enrollment for next year,'' Carlile said.
The LEARN Academy for children in kindergarten through third grade is in its second year and currently has 162 students at the elementary school.
Future plans include the construction of an active art gallery in both the LEAD and LEARN hallways. The galleries were designed by artist Paul Hamilton and will be constructed by parents of academy students. Carlile said they are hoping to present gallery openings sometime in March.
The academy programs, referred to by school administrators as conversion-type community schools, are funded through the usual state school funding methods. LEAD Academy received a $500,000 federal grant, distributed through the state of Ohio, which is being used for equipment, teaching tools and upgraded technology, including the iPads used by the students.
''Even the teachers have had to stepup their game when it comes to technology,'' Carlile said.
''We use technology in the classrooms, but our teachers presence in the classrooms are core to a quality school,'' she said.