Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, March 12, 2009

Kyle Kincaid and Skyler Prall test-drive the video games that Southern Middle School students created for the STEM Fair. "Going there and looking at other people's stuff will give us ideas of how to improve," said Kyle, who's in his first year with the Student Technology Leadership Program. (Photo: Tammy L. Lane)

When students at Southern Middle School play video games these days, they’re not just working their thumbs, they’re working their minds. Through the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP), some are trying their hand at programming.

“I like playing video games, so might as well make one, you know?” said eighth-grader Kyle Kincaid.

STLP members and art club students of Duane Keaton will put their work on display in this spring’s STEM Fair, set for Saturday March 14 at Bryan Station High School. The Science, Technology, Engineering & Math event will showcase projects from across Fayette County Public Schools – some of which will be judged in competition.

“We wanted the games to be fun, but also to show that core content from music and art are an essential part of any video game. A quiz given after each game will ask questions about color, timbre, contrast and tempo to help the player make that connection,” Keaton said. “There’s a real-world connection from what they learn in art class to a lot of what these kids are involved in.”

Using Games Factory 2 software, the Southern students created not one but four games for their STEM Fair entry: Insanity, Haunted Museum, Fight the Aliens, and Get Me Out of Here! Eighth-grader Skyler Prall said the quiz will indicate how the elements of art and design are inherent in the games.

“I plan on pursuing a career in computer programming and software design and thought this would be a good start,” he said of his decision to join STLP.

Keaton, who is in his second year as STLP coordinator, noted the kids are keenly interested in the gaming software. “The potential behind it is quite vast. We’ve barely scratched the surface of all we can do with it. They’re getting more and more excited about the possibilities,” he said.

It’s important that students be exposed to technology in this day and age, he added. “If they learn how to design a video game or Web site, all of it will continue to be very popular in the career world.”

About the STEM Fair:

The mission is to showcase and celebrate the accomplishments of FCPS students and their use of technology to support science, engineering and mathematics.

Highlights will include videoconferencing, a tour of Bryan Station High School’s newsroom, podcasting, a GPS demonstration and student-run radio broadcasts. Visitors also can pick up items with a robotic arm built by Eastside Technical Center students, watch a light-seeking robot built at Paul Laurence Dunbar High and marvel at a two-seater rover with robotic arm. Also, for the first time, the fair will include a robotics exhibition.

Fayette County’s first Technology Fair was in 2003; last year, the event’s name was changed to STEM Fair and the optional competition component was added.

If you go

STEM Fair

• When: 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday March 14
• Awards ceremony:  11:30 a.m.
• Where: Bryan Station High School, 201 Eastin Road
• Contact: Julie Gaskin, district STLP coordinator, (859) 381-4732

Update:

• 2009 results