As a private elementary school, the Thomas Jefferson Institute, Santa Monica campus, works with various programs that foster the holistic development of its students, helping them enhance their skills while learning Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) in a practical and engaging way.What might seem like simple plastic bricks to keep children occupied take on great significance when transformed into a series of projects that solve diverse real-world problems. These projects, in turn, contextualize the students and make them aware of the value of their participation in the world and the global importance of their actions.As one of the top private schools in the State of Mexico, the Thomas Jefferson Institute, Santa Monica campus, has participated for several years in the international "Master Piece" program of First Lego League, a robotics community that, in conjunction with Lego Education, presents a problem with a different theme each year, and students develop strategies to solve it. This year's challenge is Art and how to share it and make it accessible to as many people as possible.In this way, students explore different values and put their creativity into practice, participate collaboratively, and develop communication and innovation skills, all while having fun and creating a solution that includes and benefits everyone.Students build different prototypes and analyze the pros and cons of their models, questioning their accessibility and demonstrating awareness of everyone's needs. For example, they consider whether someone who uses a wheelchair can easily access a stage or what the best way is to present works of art in a museum so that people with visual impairments can experience them. They also question whether the needs of people in their own country are the same as those of someone in China or Germany, to name a few countries.Another aspect they work on is robotics programming. Students acquire both construction and block-based programming skills and gradually become familiar with recognized coding languages.This is how, as a Private Primary School, we are building lasting and meaningful learning experiences in our students, generating skills and giving them the ability to solve any challenge that comes their way, and also leading them to explore and, why not, create new professions that provide solutions to the problems that arise every day in our changing world.
