Gettings kids involved in hands-on activities while remote-learning can be a daunting task...so one district is putting a different focus on STEAM.

STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

Frontier School teachers found a unique way to make STEAM appealing to kids.

Students in Blasdell currently only attend school twice a week, teachers Amanda Shea, Natasha Bueme and Katelyn Piraino told NEWS 4 (WIVB-TV) making sure their social and emotional needs are met is a top priority.

“They do have a lot of thoughtful things that they’re saying and putting their hearts out there,” Piraino said.

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So how do teachers go about creating a sense of community combined with learning with STEAM?

The answer is to get entire households involved and then allow for meaningful conversation afterward.

One example last December, they challenged students to make gingerbread houses, keeping the holiday in mind, out of anything they had at home.

 “So we had standard gingerbread houses made out of cookies, we had them made out of different objects. We even had a life-size gingerbread house submitted that was a little playhouse that was made out of a box.”

Then every student helped judge the gingerbread houses and talk about them afterward.

“The excitement factor is really back when we do something like this. I hear kids saying, ‘oh I’m going to go home and do that! I’m going to make that!’ Even after the contest is done.”

 

Amazon gift cards are given out as prizes.

The money for prized comes from dress-down days at schools and a massive can and bottle drive that they had in the fall.

The positive feedback these teachers have received was both surprising and rewarding, they’re now offering the challenges to all teachers in the school monthly. All grade levels can get involved.

The program is called “Stop Everything and STEAM”.

“A new way for them to be able to implement that STEAM activity and still have it be meaningful learning,” Shea said.

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