Bolaang Mongondow Regency, North Sulawesi, Ministry of Education and Culture — Since its launch in August 2026, the Integrated National School (SNT) has become a new hope for Indonesia's young generation to develop their potential and achieve their dreams. At SNT 13 Bolaang Mongondow, North Sulawesi, students are developing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-based learning to hone critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills.
The principal of SNT 13, Budiardjo Mamonto, said that at the high school level, students are developing a project called RAT-SHIELD AGRITECH: BOLMONG — Smart Ultrasonic System for Detecting and Repelling Rats in Bolaang Mongondow Rice Fields. This project is led by the Coding and Artificial Intelligence (KKA) teacher, involving aspects of Informatics, Physics, and Pancasila Education.
Through the project, students identified the problem of rat infestations in rice fields, studied ultrasonic sensors and sound concepts, developed algorithms, designed prototypes, conducted tests, made improvements, and presented their results. "This project exemplifies how Bolaang Mongondow's local potential and challenges can be used as learning resources to generate creative, innovative, and responsible technological ideas," Budiardjo said on Friday (October 9).
Budiardjo stated that learning at SNT 13 promotes STEM as part of learning innovation by strengthening cross-subject collaboration and connecting learning to real-world problems in students' environments. Thus, STEM is directed not only at producing products but also at building a culture of innovation and students' ability to create solutions to environmental problems.
A similar sentiment was expressed by KKA teacher and high school STEM leader, Muhammad Syifa. According to him, the RAT-SHIELD AGRITECH project provides students with experience connecting programming, sensors, physics, and Pancasila values to a real-world problem. "The challenge isn't just about building a tool, but how we can encourage all students to think systematically and produce technology that is beneficial and responsible for our surrounding community," Syifa said.
In addition to addressing environmental issues, the STEM project at SNT 13 also encourages students to foster a sense of nationalism through the Independence Curriculum Mission. Benedikta Firginia Lalogiroth, a Pancasila Education teacher and junior high school STEM leader, explained that in the project, students learned the meaning of the proclamation, identified information from historical sources, conducted measurements and calculations, and then designed a protective container for the Proclamation document based on specified criteria and limitations.
The project was implemented in groups through the stages of understanding, applying, and reflecting. During this process, students observed videos and historical sources, discussed them, created several designs, selected the best one, tested for durability and confidentiality, and then made improvements based on the test results. "Through the Independence Courier Mission project, students not only learned the history of the Proclamation but also learned how knowledge is applied to solve problems. We saw students become more active in discussions, more confident in expressing ideas, and more able to improve their work based on the test results," explained Firginia.
Benefits of STEM Learning for Students
With the two STEM lessons mentioned above, SNT 13 students also experienced meaningful learning outcomes in the classroom. This sentiment was echoed by Edwario Stevanus Lakoy. From the beginning, he thought the proclamation lesson would simply involve reading and understanding history.
"Through the Independence Courier Mission, we learned more by creating and testing designs. When the first design didn't work, we refined it together. I learned that to achieve good results, we must be brave and never give up," said Edwario, a seventh-grade student.
Next, a 10th grade student, Sifa Baguna, also said that through the RAT-SHIELD AGRITECH project, she understood that Informatics and Physics can be combined to solve problems in the surrounding environment. "We learned to create algorithms, understand sensors, make prototypes, and then test them. If it didn't work, we found the cause and fixed it again. For me, this made learning more real," concluded Sifa.*** (Author: Destian / Documentation: SNT 13 Bolaang Mongondow Team / Editor: Denty)
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