NEWELL—Newell School hosted a family STEM night, sponsored by the Title 1 program, on April 9. The event showcased the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to elementary and middle school students. The youth had the opportunity to take part in hands-on learning activities in various booths set up around the middle school gym. Activities included robotics, squishy circuits, catapults, Mars flowers, paper circuits, build-a-boat, rain sticks, and engineer & range. Sub sandwiches, chips, and cookies were also provided.
Students enjoyed the Black Hills Forest service booth, which was called “Protecting, Exploring, and Preserving the Black Hills National Forest.” Shelby Brunson and Melissa Dempsey, who work for the forest service, ran the part of the booth that involved trees and hydrology. “They ask about the tree cores and how old the trees are,” said Dempsey. “We show them different things from the forest to show different sciences of the forest services.” Dempsey and Brunson brought a centuries-old tree core and displayed the tree’s age by labeling its rings with the historical events it had lived through, including World War II and 9/11. Tracy Fillmore-Frey, with the Forest Service Department of Agriculture, demonstrated bridge engineering by building a free-standing bridge out of pencils.
Other interesting stations were the robotics station, which was always surrounded by students and involved building and controlling a robot, and the Squishy Circuits booth, headed by Mrs. Parker, which involved making electricity using Play-Doh.
STEM night was a success not only in turnout, but also in purpose. By providing youth with fun, hands-on experiences, the event aimed to ignite a passion for learning and exploration and inspire students to pursue further studies in STEM subjects.
