Students Run The Show At Smith Elementary STEAM Faire

From LVJUSD: Before students at Smith Elementary School finished their school year, they had the opportunity to participate in the Third Annual STEAM Faire on May 30th. The event allowed transitional kindergarten through 5th grade students to take the reins as instructors, with their own booths set up around the multipurpose room, sharing with attendees their favorite activities associated with science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM).

Originally organized by Smith parent Kiran Guleria, Principal Tammy Rankin has carried on the program for the last two years, ensuring the activities are student-run and based on their interests – by kids, for kids. “It’s about students sharing STEAM activities with each other,” said Rankin. “The STEAM Faire allows for a different degree of involvement than they get in the classroom and other events.” The school’s PTA funds the event; students fill out applications for materials, which are purchased by staff from the PTA’s funds. “We want the students to bring what they want – things they think are fun that everyone can do at home so that students can spread the experiences they shared,” said Rankin.

Because of the event’s emphasis on student initiative, activities varied from the colorful, the messy, and the technical. Each booth represented the spectrum of STEAM, including painting with marbles, making slime, Claymation, circuit building, and programming bots. Students were the experts of the projects they introduced to their peers, providing easy instructions that anyone could take with them to try the activities at home over the summer. Many of the materials were common household items such as cornstarch, dish soap, glue, food coloring, and paint.

Smith student Gabriel Benitez shared his Sphero bot, providing instructions on his coding block that directed the bot to move around a square – a deceivingly complex action requiring many lines of code. “I taught myself to figure it out,” he said of the instructions that he was expertly teaching everyone who approached his booth. “It took a long time, and getting it wrong a few times,” he added. “But now I can teach people how to do it.” The confidence to teach others was a valuable experience at the forefront of the STEAM Faire, with students soon teaching Principal Rankin and LVJUSD School Board Trustee Chris Wenzel how to turn yarn into pom-poms, or to light up an LED circuit board with paper clips and brass fasteners.

The room buzzed with the thrill of teaching and creating. Students came together over new and shared interests, fostering connections with their peers across grade-levels, and captivating their own parents and teachers. Attendees of the STEAM Faire came away inspired by the plethora of projects, ready to apply their newfound knowledge in their free time over the summer – a neat parallel to their year of education in the classroom, where their minds were sharpened and their enthusiasm for learning stoked. “Students are already coming up with ideas for next year,” said Rankin, as her students left eager to create and to continue learning.

Images Via LVJUSD