Alexandria Country Day School students present S.T.E.A.M. projects

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - After weeks of studying, students at Alexandria Country Day School unveiled their S.T.E.A.M. projects, which is short for science technology, engineering, art and math.

Over the last six weeks, students have learned about various topics in their social studies class. Focusing on one, students wrote a thesis, a research paper and designed a model in the contest that was judged by architects, engineers and contractors from around the community.

Emma Ford’s team won first place. She said their cliff dwelling project had its share of challenges, like how to keep their project intact overnight.

“Before the project, I did not know that there were so many civilizations with the cliff dwellings and how they are all over,” said Ford. “I just thought that was very interesting.”

Zoey Brown is in the sixth grade now, but wants to be a veterinarian one day. Brown’s group placed second. She said with only two days to complete the build, time constraints and building supplies were her team’s biggest challenges.

“It was hard to get all the materials for it, all the popsicle sticks,” said Brown. “We kept running out and we had to paint them because we were running out of time.”

While the S.T.E.A.M. projects challenged students mentally, many were able to make a personal connection. Rubi Gonzalez and her team built the Nina, one of three ships used by Christopher Columbus as he sailed across the Atlantic.

“I am from an island called Puerto Rico,” said Gonzalez. “That was actually one of the islands that Christopher Columbus went to.”

As these students move on to the next chapter, it is unlikely they will forget the educational or life lessons learned creating their first S.T.E.A.M. projects.

“I did not know how religious they were,” said Jane O’Quin. “They would do tons of sacrifices, and I did not know a city could be built on a lake.”

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