STEAM Night Introduces Middle School Students To A New World

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A unique high school opportunity for Mount Vernon public school students is already building up excitement among the school system's middle school students.

Organizers said over 175 students attended the first annual STEAM Night at Benjamin Turner Middle School this month. The events occurring throughout the school feature hands-on activities, including gaming, "mad science," coding, engineering, math and robotics.

"The goal of this event was to re-engage our middle school students with events that specifically target their needs," the director of the district's Pre-K, Gifted and Talented and Special Projects, Gayle White-Wallace, explained. "Tonight, we turned it up a notch and made sure to include things that middle schoolers love to do."

Those efforts sure looked like a lot of fun and the results spoke for themselves.

Benjamin Turner seventh-grader, Benjamin Jones showed off the ice cream he made with his friend and explained that with a little cream, some Ziplock bags, rock salt and ice, it was really easy to make.

"It was a really fun event," Jones said. "I was really excited for tonight."

The students who already know from experience the advantages of attending the Mount Vernon STEAM Academy volunteered to help put on the event.

Volunteer Kayla Humphrey, a sophomore at the STEAM Academy, said she wants to put what she is learning to use, studying forensic technology or cyber security after she graduates. She, along with classmates, Ethan Fertil and Thomas Taylor, spoke to the middle school students in attendance about projects they have been working on with Northeast STEM Starter Academy. The volunteers were introduced to the program in the third grade and have been hooked on the science ever since.