Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, right, looks on as W.F. West senior Andersen Shumbley, left, shows her how to operate a TESCAN microscope Wednesday afternoon in the new STEM. building at W.F. West High School.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler looks into one of the rooms in the new STEM building at W.F. West High School in January.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, right, walks with Assistant Superintendent Mary Lou Bissett, left, Wednesday afternoon in the new STEM building at W.F. West High School.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler talks to students last month in the new STEM building at W.F. West High School.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler enjoys a lighter moment after seeing a skeleton model Wednesday afternoon in the new STEM building at W.F. West High School.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, far right, talks to members of the Chehalis School District Wednesday afternoon in the Chehalis School District building.
W.F. West senior Ashlynn Gallagher, left, points out the technology she uses in class to Jaime Herrera Beutler, right, Wednesday afternoon in the new STEM building at W.F. West High School.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler looks at a student's project Wednesday afternoon in the new STEM building at W.F. West High School.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler visited the Chehalis School District Wednesday to learn about the district’s initiatives and take a sneak peak at the new STEM facility prior to its grand-opening celebration, stating the moves the district has made so far are incredible.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, said. “I felt like I just walked through a college level molecular science lab.”
Joined by school district and Chehalis Foundation officials, she was briefed about the work the district has done to further its science, technology, engineering and mathematics offerings. More than $1 million has been invested into STEM, robotics and molecular engineering at W.F. West High School. She also learned about the Beyond K-12 Initiative, which established a goal to increase the number of students who obtain their college degree or some sort of credential after high school by focusing on college awareness, eligibility, preparedness, success in college and being career ready. The district is surpassing the goals it had previously established. About 80 percent of the class of 2022 is expected to be eligible for college, with 60 percent expected to graduate from college.
As she toured the molecular engineering lab, several students explained projects they were working on. After that, Herrera Beutler told The Chronicle that those are exactly the type of students who will excel in STEM-based careers.
“I hear doctors talking to me like that,” she said, “Like literally when I toured the National Institutes of Health, I had young researchers talk to me about those types of things … Right now, we have this kind of aging population of folks who have been in this field, in this industry doing this research, retiring. Where are we going to get the young people who are excited and want to do it? I just met some.”
She commended officials from the district and the Chehalis Foundation for its partnership. The foundation, buoyed by donors, has funneled in millions of dollars to further propel the district. She also supported the move to bring in the widely-respected consulting firm The BERC Group to evaluate how the district performs and to kick off the Beyond K-12 Student Achievement Initiative.
“That’s really courageous to say to an outside professional organization ‘come in and evaluate us,’” Herrera Beutler said. “School districts don’t do that. That’s really remarkable and the parents in this area should be excited.”
The BERC Group compiled a lengthy list of recommendations the district has adamantly pursued successfully. It has led to more effective instruction, increased graduation rates and college attendance, as well as more students who are ready to comprehend algebra in the eighth grade so they can pursue the higher level STEM classes offered at the high school.
Herrera Beutler hopes the success of the district is recreated in other areas, a move that recently began when the Centralia School District hired on The BERC Group for a similar project thanks to a $2 million grant from TransAlta to the Centralia Community Foundation.
The new 16,000-square-foot STEM wing accessible through W.F. West High School includes six labs and two classrooms, one of which is an interactive classroom that can double as a place where students can work in groups on presentations and other items.
W.F. West Principal Bob Walters said it even further set the state of the art STEM wing apart from other areas.
J. Vander Stoep, with the Chehalis Foundation, said W.F. West High School has equipment that many colleges don’t even have access to.
