About Us

With the help of Northrop Grumman’s we have created The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center which is a “K-16 workforce development ecosystem.”Our mission is to create great engineers with high levels of Executive Function, Innovation and Workplace Readiness Skills.

1. The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center vertically integrates STEM Instruction & STEM Student Community incorporating six elementary schools. The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center reaches down into the elementary schools where our students come from and creates morning and afternoon STEM programs with instructors, materials (including microprocessors) and transportation.

• The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center reaches up into high school and college STEM pathways such as  Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Madison High School’s “Career & Technical” Academy programs, Fairfax High, Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University.

• The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center creates K-16 Student STEM Community where students find their peer group in elementary school and continue in STEM fields of study through college.  We foster and grow this STEM community focused around the ESTEEM Center within our K-16 vertical through peer-to-peer mentoring.  

• Older students mentor younger students in feeder schools about what’s next in their academic career, and professional scientists, mathematicians and engineers mentor students about what’s next in the world.

1. Project Based Learning is the optimal way to “grade students in an independent makers’ space” where “innovation is taught” and “innovation learning measured.” 

• The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center employs Dream Inspired Planning:  Students choose and pitch their own projects based on their interests.  No class-wide projects.  All projects and instruction is differentiated by student name and student need.  Dealing with this question of “What shall I make, and why?” is the very first question of the class.  The question mandates students “think outside the box” and Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center students never get a chance to get back in the box. 

Extreme Ownership:  From the moment students’ choose their own project, it succeeds or fails based on their thinking and behavior.  Their research, planning, organization, design, engineering & implementation matter.  Many times the students know more than the teacher about their project.  “Figuring stuff out” is the default position.  Nothing is hand fed by teachers, mentors or guess.  Students come to view their projects in terms of extreme ownership which creates self-sustaining focus, interdependent collaboration with peers and the real need for a

The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center’s ESTEEMStream.News engineering student newspaper is the largest middle school publication in the United States:

• Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center students must report and publish in multiple areas of STEM and publish the directions and findings from their engineering projects.
• 120,000 unique readers per school year, the largest audience of any middle school in the United States.  (On par with the audience of a small liberal arts college.)
• Student articles read 100-4000 times.
• The largest output of articles of any middle school in the United States.
• ESTEEMStream.News is wholly produced by middle school students, and has been quoted in the Harvard Science Review as well as Mindfloss.com, Marathon Magazine, and more than 100 other publications around the globe.

Our mission: The mission of the ESTEEM Center for Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, English & Math is to provide our diverse community of students a safe learning environment that fosters student growth and success coupled with mentoring and a clear, individualized pathway of high-quality STEM instruction and resources to realize their potential and academic goals in STEM K-12 education and beyond.

The Luther Jackson ESTEEM Center ESTEEMFest 2023 is happening June 5-9, 2023! 

This fun and interactive event will include STEAM stations and speakers for classes to visit throughout the school day at 8 am-2 pm. that week.

Some activities you can look forward to:

-Featured Speakers                                                                 -Aquaponics Lab (featured on multiple news stations!)

-Learning Undefeated Explorer Lab                                   -Solar Panel Station

-U.S. Air Force Drones Presentations                                  -VEX Robotics Robot Display

-Engineering Class Project & Tool Displays                       -Northrop Grumman

And More!

WE NEED YOUR HELP:

In order to make ESTEEMFest a success, we need the most help that we can get. If you or someone you know would like to contribute to the event, contact the organizing committee (contact information listed below):

Phone: +1(571) 279 8860                                                  Website: esteemstream.news

Email: [email protected]                                                                jacksonjournal.news

Media: Twitter – @LJMS_FCPS                                                       jacksonms.fcps.edu