STEM

At Regina Christian School we believe that the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects are extremely important and need to be taught in a meaningful and engaging manner.  The basis of these subjects is objective reasoning, otherwise known as logic. Learning how to observe the world around us, make and test predictions, verify and discover knowledge is at the heart of both science and math. This helps students develop the ability to think critically about what they are learning, and how to be able to seek out and verify truth. These have always been important skills, but are increasingly important in an information driven society such as our own. We also believe that God has revealed Himself to us in both His written word, the Bible, and in His physical act of creation, the universe we inhabit. We teach our students that by understanding and studying God’s universe we can see and understand facets of God that otherwise might be obscure. Also, that since God is the author of both the universe and the Bible that we do not have to be afraid of them contradicting each other. We can study science without fear that the knowledge it creates will pull us away from God as true knowledge must be completely reconcilable with the Creator of it. As such we strongly encourage our students to take STEM subjects, and to pursue careers in STEM fields, which are becoming an increasingly large sector of the current, and future economy. It is the importance of the thinking skills that STEM subjects provide, the strengthening impact this can have on faith, and the prospect for good future employment that drives RCS to have a strong STEM program, and to continually revise and improve upon it.

While most schools within Saskatchewan offer many STEM opportunities, Regina Christian School has been working, and is continuing to work, to develop an even stronger STEM program. We start with a special once a week preschool supplement called Mini Masterminds, that focuses on helping our preschoolers get introduced to many different ways of learning. One of these is an introduction to basic computational thought, which is the ability to think through a problem in a sequential step-by-step process. This is foundational to developing the ability to program computers, and in fact the preschoolers learn to program a simple wooden robot named Cubetto TM without even having to use a computer, through the use of little arrow pegs they place in a programming board. In addition to the regular science classes that are taught within the elementary in the second half of the semester a special robot/maker club is run by the high school computer science teacher. This club helps students learn how to design things on a 3D printer, program Lego, Arduino, and Python based robots, and also write computer games. Once students enter high school there is a robotics club that takes these skills further and also goes to a yearly provincial robotics competition. Having these extra-curricular offerings is important, but they do not replace the strong core of STEM subjects that are offered at the school. All of the math courses that could be offered within Saskatchewan are currently being taught, including an advanced placement calculus class in grade twelve. Our senior science courses are highly engaging, and typically inquiry driven. We have recently also doubled the size of our science lab, bringing in true state-of-the-art technology and equipment to prepare our students for the careers of the future, and now. While Regina Christian School currently runs a very strong STEM program, we are continually reviewing and revising our program as it has continued to grow.