Over the past few years, BSM has expanded their course offerings to include more STEM based electives. BSM is considering offering higher level Computer Science courses next year due to their real world applications as well as popular demand.

Dr. Peter Kirwin teaches in the Engineering department of BSM and also works as a Principal at Puzzle Sandwich General Consulting. Kirwin has been instrumental in incorporating programming into pre-existing engineering classes, such as level two and three options, where students explore basic programming languages like Python. These skills are mainly utilized for the Robotics team or individual projects. “There’s a lot more to do with programming than there was 20 years ago,” Kirwin said.

In the past two years, the engineering curriculum has developed advanced course offerings, including RED Capstone and AP Computer Science A. Fellow engineering teacher Anne Dougherty is in charge of RED (Research, Entrepreneurship, Design) which is a way that students can apply their engineering and entrepreneurship skills to a real world project with actual companies and mentors. “The RED Capstone is really an ambitious collegiate opportunity for students to pursue a project or a passion that they’re really excited about,” Dougherty said.

Similar to RED, AP Computer Science A is not directed specifically at engineering students. It gives students an opportunity to take an AP course that revolves around programming. “The engineering [department] is becoming a part of this bigger push to have students both learn actual things that you’ll use in real life and not just get ready to learn things that you might use in real life,” said Kirwin.

Kirwin hopes that computer science will continue to expand in the future and become a regular part of the curriculum at BSM. This would allow for students to learn these skills very early and truly apply them to the projects offered in the class. Today, almost every job incorporates some amount of programming. Immersing students in that atmosphere will be very beneficial for their futures. “A lot of content areas in real life include a fair amount of programming and it would be good for BSM to head in that direction, and actually have some classes involving some of that program,” Kirwin said.