Wentworth School’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, or STEAM, fair was a big hit with students and their families, when it was held March 3 at the Scarborough school.
The event was designed to showcase hands on activities in STEAM disciplines that students and their families were able to complete together.
Local organizations partnering with Wentworth School on the fair included Maine Audubon, which created a citizen scientist station focused on the Scarborough Marsh; the Maine FabLab from Biddeford, which displayed 3-D printers; and members of Boy Scouts Troop 47 in Scarborough, who demonstrated their lemon clock.
Linda Faber-Shields, president of the Wentworth Parent-Teacher Association and the event organizer, said her group was pleased to have so many Wentworth staff members assist in the event, including technology integrator JoEllen Clive, who set up interactive musical keyboards made from unusual materials like carrots, celery and bananas.
Other fun learning stations included one with 3-D bubbles, one with homemade kaleidoscopes, one with circuit bugs and one featuring an interactive drum circle. The fair also included an obstacle course created with the help of eighth-grade students from Scarborough Middle School.
In addition, several parents also volunteered to set up learning stations, which included a jelly bean engineering challenge, Simon Says Draw, origami and a geodesic dome made with newspaper.
“We came to this year’s fair with the plan to stay only an hour or so. We ended up staying for the full duration of the fair, and my kids would have stayed for another hour if the fair was open longer,” said parent Joe Plourde.
John Thurlow, the assistant principal at Wentworth, said the STEAM fair was the best school event he has ever been to, according to Faber-Shields, who said her group has made a long-term commitment to organizing the annual fair.
– Kate Irish Collins
Boy Scouts from Troop 47, from left, Sam Brown, Ryan Brown, Colby Jakson-Parise and Peter Brown, showed their lemon clock engineering project.
Wentworth students Ryan Marshall, left, and Alden Hughes relax under the newspaper geodesic dome that was built at the fair.
Wentworth Librarian Barb Merritt works with third-grader Jane Curtis to make a kaleidoscope.
Lori Plourde, a member of the Wentworth School Parent-Teacher Association, prepares students to build a jelly bean and toothpick structure.
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