Competition medals in fun, learning
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Priest River Lamanna High School freshman Graden Hanes, left, and his brother, Priest River Elementary third-grader Keegan White, right, make quick work of putting together a skeleton within the alotted time limit to earn points during the STEaM Olympics at PRLHS on May 23.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)A couple of young competitors watch the color-changing ozobots during the STEaM Olympics held at Priest River Lamanna High School on May 23.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Priest River Lamanna High School students, from left, Annika Rantala, Caleb Gleason, Jordan Wayne Phillips and Cameron Parkes learn about dominant eye and tunnel vision during the STEaM Olympics at PRLHS on May 23.
(Photo by MARY MALONE)A youngster checks out the tiny two-headed turtle during the STEaM Olympics at Priest River Lamanna High School on May 23.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Some STEaM Olympics competitors attempt the marshmallow challenge, which included trying to build the tallest free-standing tower of spaghetti noodles that will stay upright when the marshmallow is placed on top.
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Kim Proctor, who ran the table for the STEaM Olympics marshmallow challenge on May 23, measures her own tower. The challenge consisted of STEaM Olympics competitors earning points by trying to build the tallest free-standing tower of spaghetti noodles that will stay upright when the marshmallow is placed on top.
PRIEST RIVER — It was a STEaM-packed day for West Bonner County’s district-wide STEaM Club last Wednesday.
Upon receiving a grant from the Idaho STEM Action Center, the STEaM Club put together a STEaM day at every elementary, with students rotating through classes doing everything from catapult designs and launches, bridge building, art pieces, rocket building and painting, coding, ozobot mazes, and much more, said STEaM club president and Priest River Lamanna High School teacher Shannon Fraser in an email.
Elanna Philipoff, the treasurer of STEaM Club said, "The elementary students couldn’t stop smiling all day rotating from one activity to the next."
In addition to the elementary schools' STEaM days, students in grades five-12 rotated through a Career Day set up in the PRLHS gymnasium. Thirty-four community members represented 20 different businesses and organizations, donating an entire work day to talking to students as they walked through. Sheree Rizzardi said, "The fifth and sixth graders thoroughly enjoyed the Career Fair and gained valuable information from the presenters."
In survey reflections, presenters said they "loved the wide range of the students and their enthusiasm.” Of the 640 students who attended Career Day, 82 percent responded that they "loved" the STEaM career fair. Of the 327 students who had time to reflect at the end of the Career Day, 74 percent said they learned more about the STEaM careers they could go into, and 72 percent said they now plan on going to college for STEaM.
"As president of the STEaM Club, hearing excitement like this with almost three-quarters of our students pursuing future life plans brings me nothing but joy and hope for our world," Fraser said.
After the Career Day alone, the STEaM Club was excited to hear that 37 percent of students plan on becoming a STEaM Club member next year.
During the district's first STEaM Olympics this year, 26 teams competed, Fraser said.
"It was so much fun seeing all ages of families compete and have fun with one another as they challenged their minds, body, and wills," she said. "It was fun to see the interactions of teams uniting together, working to win, and the fun with the community members helping and teaching all ages as the teams competed for 10 points at each booth."
The Kalispel Tribe’s Natural Resource Department was "blown away" by 4-year-old Will Bean, who they nominated to win the Future Einstein Award after he knew almost every single animal identification that teams of older players could not get. Paula Willins won the Best Mentor award with her help leading others at her honor’s anatomy and physiology booth while also competing. Troy DeMent won the Strongest Player award after his support to his team all night long and performance on the U.S. Army occupational physical assessment test with Sgt. Brewer from the National Guard, and Izsobel Schmidt won the Best Teammate award as she helped her younger sisters in the "Pink Bregade" team take fifth overall.
Bronze medalists were the "Yoshi Bros" with Austin Sterling, Troy DeMent, Logan Millward and Cord Alexander. The "Free HW Pass" team was this year's silver medalists, who lost by a mere 10 points to the First place team. Players were Matyus McLain, Luke Butler, Teigan Marinello. The gold medalist team was the "Munny Puppus" with Cameron Parkes, Paula Willins, Jordan Wayne Phillips, Caleb Gleason, and Annika Rantala.
Fraser said the the STEaM events would not be possible without the support of community members, school administration from across the district, teachers and staff, and the students. The Rotary Club, Roxy Movie Theater, Safeway, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, and Mitchell's donated to make STEaM Day possible, she said.
All students, patrons, and teachers interested in joining the club can find information online at steamwbcsd83.weebly.com.