Community leaders, teachers, administrators and parents turned out Friday to celebrate the rededication of the Saugus Union School District’s Emblem Academy school.
About 550 students learn under a STEM focus at Emblem Academy, which puts emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math.
“It was a true celebration of success in education,” said school board President Judy Umeck. “We enjoyed watching firsthand what this school has been able to accomplish in a month.”
Officials toured the classroom and watched as third-graders studied the basics of how a rocket is propelled on digital SMARTboards, and then went out and launched their models.
“I’m so grateful that here at Emblem Academy we are inspiring these students to become the next generation of engineers, astronauts and dreamers of this world,” said board member Paul De La Cerda. “They will be developing technologies in the future that we don’t even know about today.”
Saugus Union School District officials OK’d the reopening of Emblem Academy in January. The two-story school located on Espuella Drive in Saugus re-opened in the fall of 2013.
Construction has been happening on the Emblem Academy campus for three years.
“Studies show that 10 years from now, six-out-of-every-10 jobs don’t even exist right now, but they will,” said Assemblyman Scott Wilk. “You have an exciting future and I’m proud you made the commitment to be here. I know you will all excel.”
Technology, collaboration and problem-solving are all cornerstones of the curriculum at Emblem.
Students in Chris Bague’s class were learning to produce their own audio podcast Friday. Eventually, they will produce their own math podcast and a separate science podcast, Bague said.
Other students were conducting an experiment to see what makes an M&M candy color dissolve faster, water or soda, while others were launching rockets.
“I think we will be instilling the confidence and self esteem in these students to be able to achieve and innovate in a world that calls for people to think out of the box,” De La Cerda said.
Emblem School Rededicated
