I don’t give a lot of keynotes…I tend to be more of a facilitator of professional development but yesterday I had an opportunity to give a keynote to teams of school district leaders in the Puget Sound region. I touched on several ideas in equity-focused science instruction but I led with the importance of PK-5 science/STEM instruction.

A theme for our day was honoring and developing STEM identities- so I led by telling my own STEM story. Then I showed a slide with a group of lions and a flock of crows. I asked the group what you call a group of lions (pride) and a group of crows (murder). At this point I’m sure the participants were wondering where I was going with this. Then I showed a picture of a group of Kindergarten students. I asked them what we might call a group of Kindergarteners. I heard a few mumbles but nobody boldy put forth an idea. I joked that my original idea was a Chaos of Kindergarteners and then shared a couple of stories about my time teaching science to Kindergarten students. About how engaged and excited they would get over the most everyday items- rocks, leaves, pine cones, etc. They would generate almost endless questions, make lots of connections, and meaningful observations. Kindergarteners are the personification of what we want in scientists. Then I introduced my idea- that we should call a group of Kinders a Curiosity…a Curiosity of Kindergarteners. This seemed to resonate with the group.

I then shared how I get to observe students at many grade bands…and how I see a shift in students as they move through the elementary grades and into secondary. The curiosity seems to decline. Is this natural? Or is there something we do as a system that squelches this natural wonder? I proposed the notion- What if our high school chemistry students were as curious as a group of Kindergartners? What might that look like? How could we make that happen?

During the rest of the day we had district teams design a storyboard showing how a student entering their district as a pre-K student might progress through the grades. What science and STEM experiences might we want them to have? I was excited to see the things that teams were drawing and writing about in the elementary grades. I’m even more excited to see us make them a reality. And to see what a Curiosity of Kindergarteners might look like after 13 years of authentic, relevant, and meaningful experiences collaborating to figure things out and to solve problems together.