The Montpelier Bridge
Oregon Department of Transportation Engineers In School/Creative Commons
Not long ago, if you asked an eight year old what engineers do, you’d probably get a quick answer, “They drive the trains!” This story makes eight-year-old Silas O’Neil smile.
“Engineers solve problems,” he says, “They fix things. They figure things out and they build new things. Engineers can drive trains, but there are all kinds of engineers, like. . . electrical engineers.”
Silas’ teacher is Nancy Mears, who teaches second grade at Montpelier’s Union Elementary School. She’s also a former architect who says, “I love teaching engineering because it feels real and can incorporate many math and literacy skills, such as graphing, information writing, and the understanding of nonfiction texts.” Although Mears may be uniquely suited to this study, engineering is a part of the curriculum for all Vermont students from kindergarten on.