Sharing Our Good News (02/04/22)

Friday night the STEM JV basketball team took on Regis and in the end, Regis took home the victory by a score of 45-8. The Spartans fought hard and had some shining moments. Here are some of the highlights! Keep your heads up team and keep fighting!

How do we build the infrastructure to support self-driving cars that serve the diverse needs of rural and urban communities?

Likely a question we have never asked or needed to! However, for Mrs. Basu’s 8th-grade Cybersecurity and Networking class, it’s an important PBL and a Collaborative Learning Adventure they are working on.

They are working with ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado Foundation) to design solutions in order to learn about the application of multiple technologies and engineering disciplines. Students will be working on SDLC and have started researching the topics and various parameters of technology usage. They will be meeting with mentors, maintaining a collaborative portfolio of findings or results, and creating solutions. Solutions designed by students will be shared via storylines shared in presentations and demonstrations locally and regionally. Thank you to Dr. Cannady for making the connections with ACEC.

Want to know what gets our students excited about FRC? Disney+ has created a movie all about it.

“More Than Robots” follows four teams of teenagers from around the world as they prepare for the 2020 FIRST® Robotics Competition. Get to know teams from Los Angeles, Mexico City and Chiba, Japan as they work towards the goal of taking their unique designs all the way to the highly competitive global championships. Although they are faced with overcoming challenges along the way, such as having limited resources within their community or putting everything on hold because of a world-wide pandemic, the kids persevere and learn that there is a lot more to the competition than just robots.

For more than 20 years, Disney has supported FIRST® with financial, in-kind and mentorship resources, and together with Lucasfilm’s philanthropic initiative Star Wars: Force for Change, FIRST® continues to bring hands-on learning opportunities and mentorship to more young people around the world, empowering them to not only think big, but to develop the skills needed to be the next generation of innovators.

“More Than Robots” is directed by Gillian Jacobs in her feature-length documentary directorial debut. Award-winning Supper Club founders Jason Sterman, Brian McGinn, and David Gelb are the producers. Lucasfilm’s Michael Garcia and Christine Beebe serve as executive producers, with Jacqui Lopez as co-executive producer.

Check out the preview below.

Congratulations to the Cyber Patriot 2nd Place State Award Winners. We are so proud of you. What an amazing win! Thank you to all mentors and Mrs. Basu for her leadership.

Names: Left to Right: Rohil Bhat, Sri Abhinav Thatavarathi, Nakul Choudhary, Akshaj Dev, and Binuwara Yakandawala (Sen).

Congratulations to Silas Pacheco, for placing third in the 138lb weight class, in the Varsity Centennial League Championships on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. Silas competes for Thunder Ridge High School Wrestling Team. Placing Third in the League Championships completes a very successful month for Silas. He placed Second at the Fairview Highschool invitational, just the week before.

Silas is now continuing to train and prepare for Regionals which will be coming up soon.

The National Geographic Society has selected 25 audacious changemakers—between 16 and 25 years old—to join their cohort of 2021 Young Explorers and STEM’s Gitanjali Rao was named to the list. Travel to the 19 different countries that these Young Explorers call home and learn about their respective projects.

Gitanjali Rao was also named a UNICEF Young Advocate for 2021. Their global cohort of young voices and faces comprises thought leaders with diverse goals. From bridging the digital divide in education to fighting climate change to championing LGBTQI+ rights and social justice, these young advocates are speaking out and taking action for children and adolescent rights.

Anirudh Rao, a 4th grader from Ms. Tracey’s class gives back by sharing his knowledge on culture and traditions of holidays around the world with campers in History Colorado Museum and students of a rural school in Recluse, Wyo. Additionally, Anirudh has been invited to Denver Museum of Nature/Science and Aspen Academy to share as well.

On Thursday of this week, Dr. Kieran Smith, a veterinarian spoke to STEM fifth graders in a Zoom session.  Dr. Smith gave students a background of wild horses in North America and how horses are limited to being purely herbivores due to their teeth and anatomy.

He also addressed how often a horse can have a foal (baby horse) along with the lack of natural predators that can actually take down a horse, which has resulted in the overpopulation crisis that many ecosystems across the Western United States are facing.

STEM Kindergartners and their teachers celebrated another milestone with the calendar year as STEM hit 100 days of school for the 2021-2022 school year.  The kids and staff had a great time showing their creativity and appreciation for the special day!

Thank you Einar Jensen from South Metro Fire Rescue for stopping by STEM this week to speak to our fifth graders. Einar spoke about wildfires and ecosystems. He showed the class what kind of animals live in the Colorado wilderness and how wildfires impact their habitat. We always love when Einar pays us a visit!

Free lunch for STEM staff! A special thank you to the STEM parents who donated a full spread this week to show gratitude for all of their hard work and dedication. This was a delicious surprise and you left us all with big smiles!

Did you know Wednesday was National Girls and Women in Sports Day? The day is set aside to acknowledge the accomplishments of female athletes, recognize the influence of sports participation for women and girls, and honor the progress and continuing struggle for equality for women in sports. If you know of a STEM lady Spartan, be sure to thank them for making us proud!

What is the value of a paperclip? Likely a question you have never asked or needed to! However, for Mrs. Logue’s second grade class, it is an important question to consider as they practice bartering within their economics PBL unit. They will eventually barter and trade cards that they will make. They discussed how to make the paperclip more valuable to negotiate a better trade and they ultimately traded for a pair of headphones! Way to sell it!