Rockwood Summit Hosts National Geometry in Construction Training

Rockwood Summit High hosted educators from eight states at a Geometry in Construction (GIC) training session during the week of June 16.

GIC offers hands-on learning experiences in which students apply geometry concepts to a variety of construction processes to see the connection between the two. Rockwood Summit GIC teachers Gayle Piepho and Mike Brown facilitated the training, which included a GIC program overview, math activities and the participating educators constructing their own balsa wood playhouses.

Alex List, a 2005 Rockwood Summit graduate who is currently teaching at the Oklahoma Aviation Academy in Norman, took part in the training. She shared some of her thoughts on the training and coming back to her alma mater.

What have you learned?
"We've done a wide range of activities and group work, which is huge. There is also some construction-related stuff that I didn't know." 

What's it like coming back to your alma mater? 
"It's fun to come back because I haven't been in this building for 20 years. I knew Dr. Emily McCown as Emily Kinder. She was my poms coach. I had her twice for math: my freshman year and my senior year. Gayle Piepho was also my poms coach in high school. It's all coming full circle."

What do you hope to take back with you?
"I'm going to take back some of the project stuff that we've done and some of the group activities we've done and kind of implement that into what we already do. Since our kids take aviation during their second block, my hope is to 'marry' geometry and aviation, incorporating some of the real-world skills we're learning here, like measuring and drilling, into what we're already doing."