Passport to STEM Success

With passport in hand, Goudy Elementary students and their parents set out on a journey of scientific exploration. STEM Night at Goudy offered many activities from coding to chemistry, simple machines to wind-powered boats and many things in between.

The evening began with a Chemistry Stunt Show performed by Mike Davis, a professor from Northwestern University.  Following the opening act, passports led the explorers on a K-4 or  5-8 STEM adventure.  Parents attended a total of four science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities.  Upon completion of each hands-on activity, the passports were stamped.  At the end of the night, parents turned in passports in exchange for a chance to win a variety of raffle prizes.

Steve Tow led a hands-on coding activity for 5th-8th grade families.  Students showcased their coding talent using Dash and Dot robots while completing four different challenges.  Tow said the best part of the evening was seeing parents and their children take interests in all the different STEM activities that were provided.  He also complimented the students on their growth mindset.   “I loved hearing them explain to parents how failure was part of the process of them learning.  It really showed the development in their mindsets,” he proudly shared.

Next door in the DreamMakers Lab, students were sharing all sorts of creations.  They shared their design challenges and boasted about how the DreamMaker space has transformed their learning.   One student shared, “People got to see the hard work we have done for the past couple of months and I’m glad that us dreamers get to share all our projects to the public at an event such as STEM night.”  Once again, the Goudy DreamMaker Lab illustrates the mighty power of STEM!