Chester Elementary School hosts out of this world STEAM night

Families blasted off into an exciting world of curiosity, creativity and exploration at Chester Elementary School’s STEAM night last Thursday night. Families spent the evening smiling ear to ear, engaging in interactive activities with their loved ones as they learned about the world of STEAM.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics), plays an integral role in students’ habits of mind and specific skills such as collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity and conscientiousness to succeed in school and beyond. 

“Having the parents here helps create a deeper connection with the school while engaging in their child’s education,” said Principal Mary Kate Boesch. “The kids learn so much in robotics classes and engaging in STEAM challenges in the Makerspace during the school day, so it’s nice for the parents to come here to see how the students utilize technology to learn about engineering, design, robotics and coding.”

Engaging children in engineering education leads to improved student learning achievement in math and science. Additionally, students gain an understanding of solving problems based on real-world connections. 

During the event, there were a plethora of activities families could participate in including creating constellation casters, navigating the LEGO Grabbot, exploring the solar system in an interactive star lab, and more! 

“I made sure I was home from work on time so I could be here to enjoy it with him,” said CJ Tavormina, a parent of a fifth grader at CES. “It's fun, it's something different to do and definitely engaging. I like the robotics activity because he knew how to do all the codes and everything like that. I’m glad he’s interested in these things.” 

Throughout the evening, fun facts were hidden around the building, with students earning stamps on their STEAM post cards any time they recited a fact to a teacher or staff member. After collecting six out of eight stamps, students were rewarded with an item from the 3-D printer. Some fun facts included that the moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. It takes about 27 days to orbit the Earth. The moon is colorless, full of craters, and covered with gray dust. The NASA Apollo II mission in 1969 was the first moon landing for the United States.