Amanda Pevey
Elmore Autauga News
At Holtville Middle School, students are doing much more than sitting at desks and listening to lectures.
They are building chicken coops, caring for live chickens, tending vegetable gardens, operating a student-run coffee bar, designing forts inspired by colonial history lessons and crafting soaps, candles, and lip balms in the school’s own apothecary shop.
Soon, those efforts will earn Holtville Middle School national recognition as the first school in central Alabama and the first middle school in region 9 to receive Cognia National STEM certification.
“Serving as the STEM Coordinator, it has been an absolute pleasure collaborating with the administration and faculty at Holtville Middle School,” Wright said. “I could not be prouder of their achievement in earning the Cognia National STEM Certification. This milestone is yet another example of the Elmore County School District’s commitment to pioneering innovative STEM education and equipping students with the critical 21st-century skills needed to thrive in an ever-changing world,” Wright said.
The nationally recognized designation validates excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Most schools spend two to three years completing the extensive process, but Holtville Middle School finished the work during the 2025-26 fiscal year.
For Principal Lee Jackson, the milestone is both a professional achievement and a personal one.
“I am very excited about our school that will soon be STEM accredited,” Jackson said. “For a long time, we have been doing STEM projects, but now to be acknowledged and become a STEM-certified middle school is just awesome. It is a new way of teaching and a new way of thinking.”
Jackson, a Holtville graduate who taught at the school before becoming principal 12 years ago, said the accomplishment feels like a full-circle moment.
“I, too, am a product of Holtville,” he said. “So, it is basically full circle for me, and it is a happy moment.”
Instructional Coach Courtney Terry said the accreditation process has transformed teaching across the school.
“Our schools have historically been lecture-based,” Terry said. “This process has helped us meet this new generation where they are by focusing on project-based, hands-on learning.”
Teachers participated in professional development, collaborative planning, and vertical alignment to weave STEM concepts into every subject area. The effort also brought together community partners, including Alabama Forestry, local stakeholders, and representatives from the city of Prattville.
“We are gathering the community together,” Terry said. “What we are really doing is building on Holtville’s agricultural roots and the way this community thrives on that.”
That agricultural heritage is visible throughout campus.
Jason Tew, Holtville AG teacher, designed and built chicken coops with his vocational agriculture students, some of whom are also in the ROOTS program, which funded the project. Students also maintain a vegetable garden through ROOTS, learning sustainability, agriculture, and entrepreneurship along the way.
Bulldog Brews, the school’s student-run coffee bar, gives students experience in customer service, budgeting, and business management. Proceeds support the ROOTS Club and other STEM initiatives.
The school has also raised funds through the Miss Holtville Middle School pageant and a community vendor fair.
In the school library, students Annie Smith, Lillie Kate Porter and Sophie Staton serve as library aides and help run Holtville Middle’s apothecary shop, where students create and sell soaps, candles, and lip balms.
“Whenever we do not have classes, we get to make our own soaps with our own scents, colors, labels and names,” the students said. “We think this is cool because it is something you would not expect to do at school.”
Teachers say STEM has opened the door to more meaningful and creative lessons.
Lee Forney, who teaches fifth- and sixth-grade social studies, recently challenged students to design stronger forts after studying George Washington’s failed defense at Fort Necessity during the French and Indian War.
“They were able to use STEM and design their own forts to see if they could build a better fort than George Washington did,” Forney said. “You have to get creative when incorporating STEM into social studies, but it can be done.”
The timing aligns with newly updated Alabama social studies standards, the first major revision since 2000.
Shelby Rhodes, a fifth-grade science teacher, said the school has embraced a more hands-on approach that helps students connect classroom concepts to real-world careers.
“It is opening more doors for opportunities,” Rhodes said. “Students are being exposed to career options and real-world applications they might not have seen otherwise.”
The results are already evident.
Attendance has improved, with 90 percent of students attending school more regularly. At the beginning of the accreditation process, about 30 percent of teachers had little experience with STEM instruction. Today, 90 percent are regularly incorporating STEM lessons into their classrooms.
“It is not about one big project,” Terry said. “It is about inquiry, problem-solving and critical thinking, and getting students ready for the workforce.”
Jackson said the school plans to continue learning from established STEM programs in Huntsville and Mobile to strengthen Holtville Middle’s offerings.
“We want to see what they are doing and bring back ideas that will help us continue to grow,” he said.
But Jackson said the achievement belongs to more than the school itself.
“Even though the certification is for Holtville Middle, it is really for the Holtville community,” he said.
As Holtville Middle School prepares to receive its STEM accreditation, the honor reflects the vision of teachers, students, families, and community partners who have embraced a new way of learning.
From garden beds and chicken coops to Bulldog Brews and the apothecary shop, Holtville students are discovering that education is not just about what happens in a classroom. It is about creating, exploring, and building a stronger future together.
