The world of science, technology, engineering, arts and math – otherwise better known as STEAM – offers a diverse range of possibilities for students to explore, from robotics to music. While these subjects could be seen as too difficult by some, students at Magnolia Science Academy are embracing these courses and accomplishing more than they and others thought possible.
Students can use the knowledge they attain and use it in practical experiments. Some learn how to dissect a pig’s heart, while others utilize technical know-how to build a remote-controlled device.
David Garner is the principal of Magnolia Science Academy-2 Valley (MSA-2), a sixth- to 12th-grade STEAM charter public school. Garner is animated when talking about the school and is nonstop in sharing their accomplishments. He first became aware of Magnolia Science Academy while looking for a school for his daughter. He was so impressed that he became a teacher there and is now the principal.
The academy was recently named among 293 middle and high schools in the California Department of Education’s 2024 Distinguished Schools. In his four-and-a-half years in the position, Garner has seen many students who initially had no confidence in their academic abilities, later graduate from the academy as one of its brightest students.
“Some of those students that we’ve seen here … that had a bunch of failing grades in sixth grade … became straight A students [in high school] and pursued STEAM field careers,” said Garner. “I really love witnessing it, in particular academically, the arc that the students, over the course of time, have started to drop these barriers and drop these walls and see that they can do better than they thought.”
Opening New Possibilities
Through various programs, MSA-2 has been able to show its students what’s possible for them if they apply themselves. Garner recounted how students last year went on a road trip during spring break to explore different colleges – from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to Stanford University.
“Most of the kids had never seen any of those places before, but it just kind of shows them that they don’t have to stop their dreams,” Garner said. “They can keep thinking bigger and there’s so much to see out there in the world.”
One student who expanded his horizons while at the academy is Alejandro Guevara. Garner described Guevara as a quiet and reserved kid when he enrolled as a middle schooler. When he was in ninth grade, he joined the Congressional Award Program – which provides youth opportunities to achieve personal goals focused on volunteerism, character development and fitness.
Guevara settled on learning to play the guitar as his personal goal. He was initially interested in becoming an engineer, but it was his time practicing the guitar that improved his self-confidence. In 10th grade, he met with Garner to ask if the academy could start a music program and hire a music teacher, which MSA-2 did last year.
The music teacher recognized Guevara’s leadership skills and gave him the title of tour manager when students in the program traveled to the Stanford University Jazz Festival and Reno Jazz Festival – making him responsible for ensuring students were on time for rehearsals and they had their proper attire and materials.
The school won second place in a competition at the Stanford Jazz Festival. Guevara himself won a scholarship to the university’s summer Jazz Camp program but missed the opportunity due to personal reasons. However, that hasn’t slowed him down and he’s currently applying to other music programs.
“His life had completely changed when we had the music program,” Garner said. “He’s really striving for the highest level. He just had a callback audition for Boston Conservatory at Berklee for their jazz program. … We want to give him the tools that he needs to thrive, and the future is his open book.”
Exploring New Ideas Through Community Feedback
Garner has many stories of students who have gone far beyond initial expectations and taken leadership roles. One example occurred a few years ago when a student in seventh grade and his father asked if the school had a VEX IQ Robotics program – where students use STEM concepts they learned in class to design and build a robot to compete against teams from other schools.
They asked if the school was open to starting the program, which it was, and they became mentors and leaders for others joining the program. Just a few months after starting the program, Garner said, MSA-2 students were able to make it to the VEX IQ National Championship.
“We are a small school. We can pivot sometimes a little bit faster than some of the other schools that might take a little bit more bureaucracy to move and steer the ship,” Garner said. “As long as it’s within our … budget, it’s within our facilities and it’s approved by our home office.”
For other schools to get their students interested in STEAM, the best thing they can do, Garner said, is to allow them the opportunity to explore their interests and passions, as well as be open to feedback. He emphasized collaboration and discovering different ideas.
“Most of the best things, my favorite things, about the school have come from students [and] staff members in the community,” Garner said. “They weren’t my idea; they were everybody else’s idea. For me, I love how collaborative we are as a school … and I think that as leaders and administrators, it’s OK to not have all the answers.”