All human activities have short and long-term consequences for ecosystems. The ethical considerations those consequences raise become an opportunity for our students to consider the impact of their decisions and their solutions. Highly effective STEM education helps students recognize the multiplicity of solutions while weighing the implications for people and the environment. Especially in light of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter about taking care of the Earth, Laudato si’, STEM education has an important place in Catholic education. It gives teachers the opportunity to teach ethics as our classrooms become spaces with a meaningful civic purpose that allow us to educate the whole child about the natural and material world around them.

One of the missions at St. Mary’s School in Canandaigua, NY is to provide opportunities for students to engage in meaningful activities that promote their learning as well as strengthen their faith. As STEM teacher leaders, our role is to ensure that all students experience STEM through this lens. So we focused on how we might use our school’s current relationships to integrate STEM and solve a real-world problem.

As a kid in the 1980s, I always had a particular love for the Kenny Rogers’ hit “The Gambler.” In that often referenced tune, Kenny imparts some very useful and worldly advice when he declares, “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.”

I don’t consider myself anything remotely close to a gambling man, but I have found myself heeding Kenny’s advice both inside and outside of my middle school math classroom in Indianapolis. When attempting to integrate STEM lessons into our classrooms, I would often hear the non-math and non-science teachers ask, ”How I am supposed to incorporate STEM into my curriculum? I don’t even teach math or science.” When collaborating with my teaching colleagues, at times it has truly been a poker game of sorts – figuring out which strategies to use with my fellow teachers to enable them to make rich and authentic STEM connections in all of our classrooms.

The room looked exactly as I had pictured it in my mind. The brightly colored walls were covered with student work, the corner had a small art area, and behind a partition were little cubbies filled with jackets and boots. The room was obviously dedicated to student learning. It had been more than 20 years since I had been in an elementary school classroom, and the first thing that came to my mind was, “How in the world will I squeeze 15 high school senior boys in here?” Natalie Hager, the fifth-grade teacher at Community of Saints Regional Catholic School, didn’t seem as worried…..