SWBOCES' Career Services Center Hosts Successful STEMfest Event

Middle school students from a range of Westchester school districts had the chance to demonstrate their scientific acumen this past Saturday, March 5, at the Lower Hudson Valley’s STEM Festival, which was held this year at the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Services in Valhalla.

Commonly referred to as STEMfest, the event, now in its second year, is intended to highlight the importance of real-world math, science and engineering problem solving among students in grades 5 through 8.

Students from the Briarcliff Manor, Blind Brook, Edgemont, Lakeland, Ossining, Putnam Valley and Scarsdale school districts attended the half-day event, which took place in three buildings throughout the BOCES campus.

While the event is non-competitive in nature, the students still had an opportunity to showcase their ideas in front of judges, many of them local high school teachers.

David Jacob, a regional science coordinator at Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES and a member of the organizing committee, said the primary goal was to encourage students to share their passion for STEM fields and projects as well as encouraging them to do their best, rather than wanting to beat out other entrants.

“We wanted this to be fun and free-flowing and to have kids show off what they are doing,” he added.

Projects encapsulating the four main categories of Build It, Invent It, Research It and Code It were on display for approximately two hours, giving the judges enough time to examine each project and to ask questions of the students.

Students were expected to explain the genesis of their ideas along with their findings, what they might have done differently and what assistance they received during the research phase.

Topics were both interesting and wide-ranging. Some examples included researching the effects of gravity on the solar system; what effect different liquids might have on plants; how magnets might propel vehicles like cars, buses or trains; how classical music affects plant growth; using a watermelon as an electrical charger; creating a pocket book from plastic bags and much, much more.

There were also a variety of hands-on exhibits and activities to keep even the youngest of attendees engaged.

In the “Makerspace” room, Cynthia Handler, a library media specialist at North Salem Middle/High School, was encouraging children to “Make Something to Do Something,” meaning they could make whatever their imaginations allowed them to do using rubber bands, pipe cleaners, cardboard, plastic cups, tubes, and more.

“What’s happening here today is about learning from each other and through trial and error,” said Ms. Handler excitedly.

In other rooms throughout Building B, students from Blind Brook High School were testing out their robotic creations and explaining to others how they came up with their ideas, while students in the BOCES Pre-Engineering Program were proudly displaying their Rube Goldberg machine, a project they had been working on for STEMfest for several weeks.

Elsewhere, representatives from groups like the Watershed Agriculture Council, the Wolf Conservation Center, the New NY Bridge Project, the Teatown Lake Reservation and SUNY Maritime College were running separate demonstrations and talks.

For girls interested in learning more about STEM, Lakeland High School freshman Jothi Ramaswamy was on hand to offer advice.

The founder of the non-profit ThinkSTEAM, Jothi said her goal is to educate, encourage and empower girls to excel in both STEM and STEAM, which combines the study of arts with science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

ThinkSTEAM, along with the IBM TJ Watson Research Center, is sponsoring a “Make Your Own Electronic Wearable Accessory” workshop May 14, and Jothi was encouraging visitors to sign up on the workshop’s website, in addition to raising awareness of her non-profit’s ThinkBig Challenge, the details of which can be found on the ThinkSTEAM website.

Other exhibits included a demonstration of Makers Empire, a 3D printing software specifically designed for K-12 classrooms, as well as an informational session on how to make an Internet radio.

“Hosting STEMfest was a great opportunity for us to showcase our campus and to make the parents and others who visited aware of the good things our students are doing in programs like pre-engineering, commercial art and architecture and design,” said BOCES Principal Orande Daring.