Students make STEM + Arts extravaganza

Monroe School District students shined at last week's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and art expo, showcasing all that they've learned.

The STEM Learning Expo took place Wednesday, April 6, at Monroe High School, and presented STEM projects crafted by more than 100 students in grades 4-8.

The event embraced artistic expression, resulting in a "STEM+ArtsGÇ¥ extravaganza that featured performances by Monroe High School Jazz combos, Hidden River Middle School, the Chain Lake Choir, Park Place Middle School Jazz combos, the Park Place Middle School Dance Team and the Maltby Elementary Marimba Ensemble.

"Monroe Public Schools is committed to developing STEM+A-literate graduates and this expo is one of the many ways used to reach that goal,GÇ¥ states a district news release. "Elementary and middle school students demonstrated their STEM+A literacy with a wide variety of projects which visitors were invited to view and quiz the creators about.GÇ¥

The projects embraced a wide variety of themes, from outer space and robotics to computer programming.

Fryelands Elementary School fifth-grader Elly Young chose to study animal behavior, investigating whether horses would have an emotional reaction to her as she sought to communicate with them by using fake horse ears to express interest and anger as a horse would. She employed two sets of fake ears; one set that was pinned back and another pointed up and forward. She hypothesized that during one-on-one interaction, the horses would imitate her expression.-á -á

"A lot of them did not like the pinned ears, so that means that they didn't like them because I was mad and they were mad,GÇ¥ Young said. "Flat back means they're mad, and forward means they're curious or happy. It was very interesting.GÇ¥

Young conducted her research at local horse barn Sketchbook Equestrian, where she takes riding lessons. Some of the data was inconclusive, Young said, as two of the 11 horses she interacted with were not responsive. It could be that they know her too well or they just have extremely calm temperaments, she said.

The Park Place Middle School Dance Cats dance team tackled a project called Math and Dance, examining parallels between the art of dance and mathematics. In addition to looking at the ways that dance and math are fundamentally similar in terms of angles, balance and lines, they also analyzed social aspects of dance and drew conclusions as to how that could help students with math.

"It can help you with making friends in the classroom,GÇ¥ said sixth-grader Helena Bradley. "So if you don't understand something in math, you can ask your friends.GÇ¥-á -á

The projects were multfaceted and completed by students on their own time. Chain Lake Elementary student Wesley Loechelt tackled video editing, so he could document each step of the process he used to construct a robotic BB-8, an astromech droid from the latest Star Wars movie. The project turned out a lot more difficult than he anticipated, Loechelt said.-á

At the end of the night the Maltby Marimba Ensemble dazzled attendees with a visually enticing performance led by music instructor Samara Rowe. The ensemble is made up of a select group of dedicated fifth-grade students that try out in September and practice four times a week, Rowe said. Throughout each highly-synchronized number, Rowe meandered through the marimba performers, conducting her musicians.

Marimbas are percussion instruments made up of wooden bars produce soft musical tones when struck by mallets. They resemble oversized Xylophones, and are so large that students stand as they play. Rowe's ensemble featured numerous marimbas in varying sizes giving the performance depth of sound. Rowe has led the marimba ensemble for 17 years.

Monroe School District Superintendent Dr. Fredrika Smith enjoyed the event, saying she found the display of projects extremely impressive.

"This is who's in charge when we get older, so thank goodness they're smart,GÇ¥ Smith said. "This is very refreshing.GÇ¥