Students and families explored science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics during the West Hempstead School District’s annual Family STEAM Night on May 28.
The evening transformed the school into an interactive discovery zone, where students in grades K-6 and their families moved from station to station, experimenting, creating and learning together. From hands-on science demonstrations to artistic challenges and technology-based activities, participants were encouraged to think creatively and put their problem-solving skills to the test.
Throughout the building, Advanced Placement STEM students and teachers showcased a variety of projects that highlighted the innovation and inquiry taking place in West Hempstead classrooms. Younger students engaged with concepts ranging from physics and biology to computer science, robotics, art and mathematics, and saw firsthand how STEM skills can be applied in exciting and meaningful ways.
The ‘Cardboard Arcade’ run by Technology Education teacher Lori Stahl-Van Brackle showcased students’ hand-made cardboard arcade games. “The kids researched the games and recreated them out of cardboard,” Van Brackle said.
AP STEM students Tzenul Jaramillo, Elijah Cabingao, Serene Lewis, Jamie McDonald, and Hugo Idrogo ran the ‘Science of Oobleck’ station. They made the adaptive goo with younger students and taught them about its properties.
“It’s a pretty simple process. A cup of corn starch and half a cup of water, thoroughly mixed,” Jaramillo said. “The property of Oobleck is that it behaves like a solid under pressure.”
“It’s a ‘non-Newtonian fluid’”, Cabingao said. “The reason we decided on this as our station was to make it engaging for the kids and teach them about a physics concept in an interactive way.”
“It’s nice to see the kids learn something new,” Idrogo, a recipient of the West Hempstead Community Scholarship, said. “We’re teaching them about something they wouldn’t otherwise know.”
West Hempstead’s new director of STEM and business, Dr. Scott Azar, was impressed with the first Family STEAM Night he presided over. “It’s impressive how much of an iterative process goes on in such a short time,” he said. “There’s a real sense of community, these kids are capable of doing such great things.”
Family STEAM Night offered students and families a chance to explore new interests, ask questions and discover the possibilities that emerge when creativity and learning come together.
