STEM Fair ‘a big technology family reunion’
Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Friday, March 05, 2010
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Scanning photos is one of many skills children can master in the Student Technology Leadership Program.
Technology whiz kids like Thomas Priest will be valuable assets one day in the workplace. In the meantime, they’re pretty handy around the house.
“Recently my dad wanted to watch a movie on the VCR and it wasn’t working, so I helped him hook it up to the TV,” said Thomas, a fifth-grader at Julius Marks Elementary.
He and other Fayette County Public Schools students will demonstrate their skills this weekend at the annual STEM Fair, an event that showcases kids’ accomplishments and their use of technology to support science, engineering and mathematics.
Members of dozens of Student Technology Leadership Programs across the district will participate; some projects will also be judged in competition. Saturday’s highlights will include a robotics exhibition and a digital citizenship session for parents.
“What’s fun is to explain to people exactly what we do and how we do it,” said Debbie Kiser, the librarian and STLP advisor at Julius Marks.
The STEM Fair differs from a science fair in that a lot of technical equipment is set up for student demonstrations. “Instead of just talking about something, you can actually see how things work,” Kiser said.
Among the projects various schools will present are a carnival photo booth, banking software and “battle of the bands” CD recordings.
“I’m doing a project on Internet safety. It talks about what you should and shouldn’t do, like never give out your address,” said Thomas, whose group did online research to gather their information and filmed in front of a green screen.
Fellow fifth-grader Bryanna Chatterton submitted a manipulated digital photograph of her baby cousin.
“I put colorful animals around her, and she was in another planet,” said Bryanna, who has been involved with STLP since second grade.
“Before I was in this, I barely knew how to use the remote control,” Bryanna admitted. “I wanted to learn more about how to use a video camera and how to edit videos.”
Kiser, now in her fourth year as STLP advisor, said her role is just to get the youngsters started.
“They’re so comfortable with the technology. They’re so at home with what they do, and it’s so normal to them,” she said. “They sit and experiment. They’re not worried to click buttons and try things. They take off and do things that amaze everybody.”
The STEM Fair provides a great opportunity for students to see what their peers at other schools are doing and to bring home new ideas.
“It’s almost like a big technology family reunion,” Kiser said. “It’s the one time a year you get to reconnect.”
If you go
STEM Fair
When: 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday March 6; awards ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
Where: Bryan Station High School, 201 Eastin Road
FCPS contact: Julie Gaskin, district STLP coordinator, (859) 381-4732
Notable: Fayette County’s first Technology Fair was in 2003. The event’s name was changed to STEM Fair in 2008, when the optional competition component was added.