For Immediate Release

Monday, June 17, 2019

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: jessica@jgpr.net

GLTS STEAM Students Visit State House for MassCUE Learning Showcase 

LAWRENCE — Superintendent John Lavoie is pleased to announce that 10th grade STEAM students joined their peers throughout the state at a Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE) Education Evolution learning showcase.

MassCUE works with educators throughout the state to effectively integrate technology into classrooms through professional learning opportunities, including specialized webinars, workshops, camps and more.

On June 5, Cameron Anderson, of Methuen; Nathan Quirindongo, Emily Then and Yasmerlin Ortega, all of Lawrence, along with STEAM instructors Tim Jones and Caroline McCullough visited the State House’s Hall of Flags to present on their “Syria Bioreacter” project.

For their project, students were tasked with using STEAM concepts to answer the question: “How can we help Syrians make medication in a time of war?” To do so, they put themselves in the shoes of Syrian people — thinking about the current civil war, which they first learned about in history class — to determine what would be feasible to create.

They came up with the idea to make a bioreactor from recycled materials that could grow and then deliver medication to those in need. Students worked on all facets of the project in biotech, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and English.

They made the “broth,” which grows algae and bacteria to make the medicinal liquid in biotech, and in electrical engineering, they created a motor that moves the medicine through the device to be administered. The actual building of the contraption occurred in mechanical engineering. Then, in English class, students wrote letters to congressmen and women in Massachusetts to make them aware of the issues unfolding in Syria.

“This was a great opportunity for students to not only showcase their work, but to interact with their peers from around the state who share similar interests,” said STEAM instructor Marla Hilderbrand-Chae, who organized the GLTS trip to the State House. “Everyone took something away from the event that we all can use as we continue to explore ideas and concepts over the next couple of years in the STEAM Innovation Lab.”

About the GLTS STEAM Innovation Program:

The Science Technology Engineering Arts Math (STEAM) Innovation Program is in its second year of implementation at GLTS and blends the technical thinking of a scientist or engineer with that of an artist or designer.

The program is unique because it fully integrates the career areas of biotechnology and engineering with core academic subjects and music. Students learn technical, academic and soft skills by working on projects in teams to investigate and find possible solutions to real-world problems.

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