By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Steve Aungst decided to mix it up a bit teaching STEAM classes at Bowling Green Middle School. A ham in the classroom and hallways, Aungst renamed the subject MEATS – putting math at the forefront before engineering, arts, technology and science.
When students first enter his classroom, he informs them that they are now part of an “elite” program.
On Thursday, Aungst was recognized himself as part of an elite group in the Bowling Green City School District, earning the honor of being named an outstanding educator by the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club.
With nearly 30 years as a teacher, Aungst believes that kids learn better when they have positive relationships with their educators. Sometimes that can be rough, after all these are middle schoolers.
So Aungst has a rule he sets for himself every day. The morning may start with kids running down the hallways, with their pants sagging low, and their hoods pulled up high.
“But the first words out of your mouth to students cannot be negative,” he said.
His goal is to create enjoyable learning experiences which involve hands-on learning, problem solving and use of the latest technology available. All that has to take place in a positive classroom atmosphere in which everyone feels important.
“It’s a tough job everyday. They come to school with baggage,” he said. But teachers need to reach beyond that. “I need to be on. I need to bring it.”
Aungst develops connections with kids by asking them questions about their music, movies, sports or shoes. Then he shares bits about himself, like music from the 90s during “Throwback Thursday,” or tunes from the 1980s on “Way back Wednesdays.”
To profess their shared fondness for Crocs footwear, Aungst and his students celebrate “Croc-toberfest.”
Key to creating relationships with kids is giving room for down time. Aungst said he gets to school an hour early each day. The first half is for him to do final prep for the day – the second half is for him to go out into the hallways and talk to students as they arrive.
“You open your door and say you’re open for business,” he said.
Aungst himself is a byproduct of Bowling Green City Schools, having started at Crim Elementary and graduating from BGHS in 1990. He grew up thinking he wanted to be a weather forecaster, but that changed when he was inspired by his teachers and coaches. Plus, not many meteorologists have side gigs as high school coaches.
“I am a teacher because of who I had in the classrooms,” he said, listing off Bob Rex, Duff Madaras, Hub Reed and Denny Marquette.
Aungst’s first teaching job was at New Riegel, which had an average of 40 students in the graduating class each year. “What a great place to start teaching,” he said.
When an opening came at Ridge Elementary School, he took a job teaching fourth through sixth grade science. Later, he moved to seventh grade at the middle school.
Somewhere along the way, the amount of testing required of students became overwhelming, and Aungst had to forgo some of his class projects to make room for prepping for tests. There was no time for projects like calculating all the possible combinations for cheesesteak sandwiches based on the menu at a local shop.
“I became the teacher I didn’t want to be,” he said, describing his burn out.
Then a position opened up teaching tech education, also called STEAM. That allowed Aungst to again focus on hands-on projects with students.
“It has prolonged my teaching career,” he said.
Teaching students to use their minds and power tools, the class calls on students to build aerodynamic cars, robots, roller coasters and popsicle stick truss bridges that can hold up to 100 pounds.
In addition to being fun, the MEATS lab operates on some specific rules:
- Ask questions, then more questions.
- Embrace the struggle. “As soon as something gets hard they shut down and want to quit.” That isn’t allowed.
- Good housekeeping. Just like in the sports locker rooms, students need to clean up the lab when they are done.
Learning goes down better with laughter. “You can hear us down the hallway,” Aungst said as he showed video clips of students testing their cars.
And life lessons learned in classrooms can be vital, he said with a grin as he showed cornhole boards made by the students.
“Let’s get these kids ready for the real world,” Aungst said with a smile.
