Elementary Field Day Fun
Elementary students collaborated across grade levels to prepare murals for display. The gym is getting 5 new murals! The elementary art room is getting 16 new colorful ceiling tiles! The student artists had fun working on their murals during field day.
STEM Student Wins Statewide Essay Competition
Essay contest winner!
Congratulations to STEM student Akshara Pydikondala for winning an essay contest about moral courage. Because of that achievement, Akshara and Ms. Hafner had the opportunity to attend a Holocaust remembrance program, where moral courage was part of the narrative.
Akshara submitted her essay and received a statewide honorable mention. Governor Jared Polis attended the event as well as several Holocaust survivors, including the keynote speaker Manny Lindenbaum.
Congratulations Akshara and a special thank you to Ms. Hafner!
Link to read Akshara’s essay:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zzOom_N_LEtrc6qvcTRsXYAfn6iNBNJx/view
STEM Students Place 1st In Statewide ECybermission Contest
First place!
STEM students Aarna Varre and Anirudh Rao worked on a project to combat icy road conditions called “Biomimetic Surfaces” and received first place in the State of Colorado for eCybermission. In our state, we welcome any innovations that can help with icy roads!
Congratulations to Aarna, Anirudh and their mentor, Mrs. Hart.
Detailed description of their award winning creation:
“We developed a nature-inspired pattern that can reduce ice formation while increasing the ability to melt faster. This pattern was inspired by the mint leaf pattern with the cavities in cicada wings combined with an angle greater than 150 degrees, which are superhydrophobic surfaces.
The solution has the potential to be either stamped into road concrete or made of materials already morphed into the patterns and installed in roads. While cold temperatures and ice formation inroads were the primary problems we were solving, this can be enhanced to any surface that does not want ice formation.
Unlike salts, the solution is environmentally friendly. It is inexpensive if patterns are to be installed on roads with a mold. The solution can be easily tested with nano-scale 3D printed materials and can be a long-term solution without impacting the road infrastructure.”
Prize: U.S. Series EE Savings Bond worth $500 on the purchase date and $1,000 at maturity per student.
STEM Staff Recognized for Earth Day Contributions
Earth Day heroes!
STEM students and staff who went above and beyond for this year’s Earth Day received trophies and recognition for their ideas and contributions.
We saw a lot of innovative projects from the classroom for the special day, including artwork being made from trash, audits of home water use, sustainable garden check-up and much more!
Many of STEM’s PBL units throughout the year are focused on sustainability and coming up with creations that are designed to improve the environment.
STEM School Nurse Mallory Jimenez Recognized For National School Nurse Day
This week we celebrated National School Nurse Day! It was also a chance for us to recognize STEM’s School Nurse Mallory Jimenez. Thank you for all that you do for STEM students and staff!
A little bit more about National Nurses Week:
National Nurses Week begins each year on May 6th and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. These permanent dates enhance planning and position National Nurses Week as an established recognition event. As of 1998, May 8 was designated as National Student Nurses Day, to be celebrated annually. And as of 2003, National School Nurse Day is celebrated on the Wednesday within National Nurses Week (May 6-12) each year.
The nursing profession has been supported and promoted by the American Nurses Association (ANA) since 1896. Each of ANA’s state and territorial nurses associations promotes the nursing profession at the state and regional levels. Each conducts celebrations on these dates to recognize the contributions that nurses and nursing make to the community.
The ANA supports and encourages National Nurses Week recognition programs through the state and district nurses associations, other specialty nursing organizations, educational facilities, and independent health care companies and institutions.
STEM Community Comes Together For STEMShares
Thanks to everyone for your continued participation in STEMShares! We’ve already seen some great examples of giving back in a positive way. Some of the responses that we’ve seen so far include: A STEM parent teaching self defense and P.E. to 1st grade and kindergarteners, sharing news about healthy food in schools, donating to The Backpack Society and putting together care packages for the homeless and women living in domestic violence shelters.
STEMShares continues through May 12th. We encourage you to give back with an act of kindness, service or donation. For ideas and submissions, just click the link below:
STEM Elementary Students Escorted by DCSO to Library
A day at the library.
A group of STEM Elementary students had quite the adventure today, walking from school to the library and they were escorted by Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies along the way!
The students learned all about how the library operates, read books and came back with some nice bookmarks and stories to share.
A special thanks to the deputies, including our own Deputy Gabe, for escorting the students and to our volunteers who also assisted with the walking field trip! Highlight of the day for this group.
A Memorable Field Trip To Sierra Space
STEM’s Aerospace Engineering and Robotics classes took a field trip to Sierra Space in Louisville, CO.
Sierra Space is a spin-off from Sierra Nevada Corporation and is probably best known for their Dream Chaser spaceplane that will embark on its first resupply mission to the ISS later this year.
Students were treated to an in depth look at the Dream Chase spaceplane as well as the Cargo mockup and training area, and also got to walk around in and explore a real-life floor model of the LIFE Habitat, which is the future of commercial space stations.
A special thanks to Brandon Tiemann, Sr. Manager, Software Simulation & Test, and Executive Sponsor Jennifer Splaingard, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Test, as well as their teams for hosting us for this amazing experience!