STEAM

Easton Public Schools to Host Second Annual STEM Week

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Easton Public Schools
Dr. Lisha Cabral, Superintendent
50 Oliver St.
North Easton, MA 02356

For Immediate Release

Friday, Oct. 4, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

Easton Public Schools to Host Second Annual STEM Week

EASTON — Superintendent Lisha Cabral is pleased to announce that Easton students will have several opportunities to learn about and explore the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields later this month.

During the week of Oct. 19, Easton Public Schools will participate in Massachusetts’ second annual STEM Week. The first Massachusetts STEM Week was held in October 2018 in an effort by the Baker-Polito Administration to support middle school students’ interest in STEM education.

The statewide theme for this year is “See Yourself in STEM.” Activities will show students across the state the careers they can pursue in the STEM fields.

This year in Easton, students will also be able to participate in STEAM activities, which is STEM plus the arts, and includes humanities, language arts, dance, drama, music, visual arts and design.

“STEM Week is a great opportunity for our students to explore different fields through many creative and educational activities,” Superintendent Cabral said. “We are thankful to our staff and the businesses and professionals who have done a lot of work to plan and participate in the events. I’m confident our students will enjoy the many activities going on during STEM Week.”

Easton Middle School STEM Career Discovery Conference

Saturday, Oct. 19, 1-5:30 p.m. at Oliver Ames High School

Current 6th, 7th and 8th graders enrolled in Easton Middle School are encouraged to attend the second annual STEM conference at Oliver Ames High School. Students will get the chance to explore various STEM fields, encouraging them to build a love for STEM and consider a future career in the field.

The conference will address six areas of STEM through a unique rotation-style classroom setting, including: engineering, medicine, mathematics, entrepreneurship and invention, space and computer science. The half-day conference will give students the chance to do activities in various STEM fields and hear about potential careers and areas of study from eight unique experts in these fields, including MIT students doing work in space research, a nurse practitioner and a computer scientist who designs video games. Students will also hear from a keynote speaker who is an Oliver Ames graduate and now holds a PhD in Marine Biology. The conference will also include a session led by current Oliver Ames students who will highlight the opportunities for STEM learning and extracurriculars at the high school.

All middle school students are encouraged to attend. Parents can learn more about the conference and register their children here. 

STEAM Letters Display

Monday, Oct. 21, 12-3 p.m. at Center School

Over the summer, second grade teachers Christen Foote and Kim Krockta and Oliver Ames High School industrial arts teacher Tom Baldino constructed 4-foot letters spelling “STEAM” from various types of materials such as whiteboard, wood and metal. Several of the letters also have magnetic chalkboard surfaces. The goal of the project was to have an art sculpture that can also be used to showcase the STEAM activities being done across the grade levels.

The letters are in the final stage of completion and will showcase elementary STEAM work first. The letters will move from building to building after November so that teachers from all schools can showcase their students’ STEAM work.

i2 STEM Week

Monday, Oct. 21 to Friday, Oct. 25, 7:55 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. at Easton Middle School for all grades and 8:40 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Richardson-Olmsted for 5th graders 

i2 STEM Week is an immersive program that transforms middle schools into STEM learning labs. During STEM Week in Easton, regularly scheduled course periods will be replaced by a hands-on curriculum developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a number of other leading STEM organizations. During the week, teachers and students work in teams to solve real-world problems where hands-on experimentation, critical thinking and collaboration are encouraged and used as teaching techniques to engage and inspire students.

Natural Resources Trust of Easton (NRT) Collaboration with Oliver Ames Science Department

Monday, Oct. 21 to Tuesday, Oct. 22 and Wednesday, Oct. 23 to Thursday, Oct. 24

NRT’s education department is partnering with Oliver Ames’s science department head Maria Annunziato to bring her environmental science classes to Sheep Pasture. Students will be participating in NRT’s new stream ecology program, which will get students involved in hands-on activities. Working in Sheep Pasture’s freshwater stream, students will collect and identify macro-invertebrates while running various water quality tests. Using their data, students will analyze their findings to determine the overall health of our stream environment.

MassCue

Wednesday, Oct. 23 and Thursday, Oct. 24, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough

The Massachusetts Computer Using Educators (MassCUE) and Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) will host the 2019 Annual Technology Conference. They will be providing educators from across New England with exciting ways to enhance teaching and learning with technology.

STEAM Work Display

Thursday, Oct. 24, 5-7 p.m. at Queset House, 51 Main St., Easton

Students in grades K-12 work on STEAM projects throughout the year and their projects will be on display during this event. This event is open to the public.  

Work-Based Learning for Educators at DePuy Synthes

Friday, Oct. 25, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at DePuy Synthes Co., 325 Paramount Drive, Raynham

Teachers and staff from area schools will engage in STEM activities that they can replicate with their students. Presentations by DePuy Synthes employees will highlight career or educational college pathways that can prepare students for future opportunities with DePuy Synthes. A tour of the facility will introduce participants to precision manufacturing. They will hear about the importance of skills in collaboration, communication and problem solving as well as STEM skills that contribute to the process of producing medical devices for national and international markets.

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GLTS STEAM Students Visit State House for MassCUE Learning Showcase 

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Greater Lawrence Technical School
Superintendent John Lavoie
57 River Rd, Andover,
MA 01810

For Immediate Release

Monday, June 17, 2019

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

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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GLTS STEAM Students Compete in Junior Science and Humanities Symposia

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Greater Lawrence Technical School
Superintendent John Lavoie
57 River Rd, Andover,
MA 01810

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Contact: Jessica Sacco
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

GLTS STEAM Students Compete in Junior Science and Humanities Symposia

Teacher Marla Hilderbrand-Chae Earns JSHS Teacher Award

LAWRENCE — Superintendent John Lavoie is pleased to announce that a group of 10th grade STEAM students recently competed and excelled in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposia.

The JSHS Program is a science, technology, engineering and math competition that promotes STEM learning at the high school level and recognizes students for outstanding achievement.

GLTS 10th grade STEAM students participated in the regional competition at Boston University on March 28, after Life Sciences teacher Marla Hilderbrand-Chae heard about the event and thought it would be a great opportunity for students to showcase their learning.

Cameron Anderson, of Methuen; Alexis Gonzalez, of Lawrence; Jacob Garcia, of Lawrence; Yasmerlin Ortega, of Lawrence; Benny Nouel, of Lawrence; and Santiago Perez, of Lawrence attended the event and went up against their peers from schools like Boston Latin, Belmont High School, the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI and Boston University Academy.

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 project meant a lot to me because I got to figure out ways to help people less fortunate than myself who don’t have the same resources available to them as we do in America,” Gonzalez said. “I really enjoy being in the STEAM program because it allows me to experience several different shops and combine my knowledge from more than one area into projects.”

Although the students didn’t place at the competition, coordinators and judges recognized their impressive presentation skills, their ability to speak fluently about STEAM and their knowledge of the Syrian conflict.

Given the students’ accomplishments, and that Hilderbrand-Chae recognized their ability to compete despite not having a formal university lab to complete their work like their peers, she received the 2019 Southern New England JSHS Teacher Award.

“Marla is an educator who always goes above and beyond to give students opportunities beyond the classroom walls,” said GLTS STEAM Innovation Program Coordinator Panagiota Athinelis. “She is always looking for opportunities to have students learn through experience and frequently brings them outside of school for these experiences, and makes sure that the students get to apply their learning in the real world through projects and inquiry.”

About the GLTS STEAM Innovation Program:

The Science Technology Engineering Arts Math Innovation Program (STEAM) 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 through working on projects in teams to investigate and find possible solutions to real-world problems.

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Swasey Central Elementary School Students Participate in Thermo Fisher Scientific Engineering Challenge

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saulogo

New Hampshire SAU 16
Dr. David Ryan, Superintendent
30 Linden Street
Exeter, NH 03833

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Swasey Central Elementary School Students Participate in Thermo Fisher Scientific Engineering Challenge

BRENTWOOD– Approximately 150 Swasey Central Elementary School students put their science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) skills to the test last week after representatives from Thermo Fisher Scientific challenged them to design and build nano-machine prototypes to combat cancer.

Students were first introduced to the project on Jan. 22 when a group of Thermo Fisher Scientific engineers visited Swasey School, and shared the organization’s mission to help make the world a “healthier, cleaner, safer” place. They also challenged third, fourth and fifth grade students to design and build a model of a nano-machine prototype that could deliver medicine to destroy cancer cells in the body.

Thermo Fisher Scientific provided 40 STEM design kits, called K’NEX Education, to the school to help facilitate the challenge. The kits included rods, connectors and a motor for students to use to build their prototypes.

Over a four week period, students at Swasey Central researched and designed their prototypes in the STEAM Design Lab, with additional supporting activities held in other subjects. In art class, students learned how to map out blueprints, and during library time, they researched cancer and imagined how they’d deliver their medicine– by nasal spray, topical lotion or by an oral medication.

“The goal of the challenge was to give the students an opportunity to understand the STEM fields and explore Thermo Fisher’s values of making the world healthier, cleaner, and safer,” said Thermo Fisher Scientific engineer Kaley Dvorak. “We targeted ‘healthier’ with this challenge by asking the students to build a nano-device that would target a cancer cell and deliver medicine to it, represented by a tennis ball and beads. But the challenge proved to be more than we even could have expected, from team work, to creativity, to research skills.”

On Friday, Feb. 15, students across grades three, four and five gathered in the gym to build their prototypes using their K’NEX kits. Students worked in groups of four, and gave two minute presentations as their teachers and 22 Thermo Scientific engineers walked around the gym looking at each project.

“The engineers were amazing with our students,” said STEAM Design Lab teacher Lisa Brown.  “They engaged with each of the teams, asking questions about their designs and research, as well as viewing their blueprints and comparing them to their final product.  It was problem-based learning on a large scale.”

Students in first and second grade also came to the gym on design day to see the prototypes their older peers created.

“All the of the individuals from Thermo Fisher were impressed with the students’ knowledge, their designs, and research they had done,” Dvorak said. “It was a very unique event that not only kindled creativity in kids but also channeled their focus toward the importance of cancer research and the opportunities in the STEM field.”

The design challenge at Swasey School was made possible by a program at Thermo Fisher that allows employees to apply for grants to host similar challenge events at schools.

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