Yankees Manager Pays Visit To Mt. Pleasant Elementary School

SMITHTOWN, NY - The “Let’s Go Yankees” cheers could be heard even outside the building as Mt. Pleasant Elementary School welcomed New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Nov. 27.

Boone visited the school as a guest judge as part of the Hess Corporation’s STEM Curriculum Guide along with Hess general manager Justin Mayer.

Fifth-grade students in Jeff Faragasso’s class, who have been working with the Hess STEM program for a few years, were challenged to design their own obstacle courses as part of the program.

Using Hess’ 2018 RV with ATV and motorcycle (which comes equipped with the STEM guide) – and being as creative with their designs as they wanted – the students showed off the obstacle courses and tested velocity, speed and kinetic energy by racing the vehicles down the ramps in the gymnasium.

Boone selected the team with the most creative design and the most challenging design and served as the timekeeper as the students raced all the cars down the most challenging course.

“Seeing the creativity, teamwork, intelligence and the time they have put into these courses has been really fun,” Boone said.

The Hess STEM program combines the elements of science, technology, math and engineering into hands-on classroom activities.

Hess STEM engages grade school students in practical experiences that demonstrate how concepts apply in the real world.

Hess’ general manager worked with the students on the activities within the 2018 curriculum guide that explore practical transportation issues, such as fuel efficiency, potential and kinetic energy for producing motion, and motorsports.

Photos courtesy of the Smithtown School District