How to Organize STEM Festival as Open House
The Harmony Public School (HPS) high schools are college prep T-STEM schools. Given this mandate, each high school student will be responsible for completing mandatory STEM PROJECTS over the entire year. The students, however, will have the option to choose a variety of different types of STEM activities/projects.
Upon their conclusion, these projects will be presented at individual high schools through an OPEN HOUSE format titled a “STEM FESTIVAL”. The primary audience at these festivals will be parents, school staff members, and 8th graders and their parents who are interested in attending a Harmony High School.
How to broadcast via Google Hangout
ANNOUNCING THE SCHOOL (STEM) FESTIVAL
Dear Parents & Students,
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Festival on Saturday, January 31, 2015 will be an event you do not want to miss!
- STEM Expo
- Art Exhibition
- Rocket Launch
- Mouse Trap Car Competition
- Coffee Shop
- Robotics
- International Food
- International Day Celebration
- Games
And much more! Entrance is free and food will be sold during the event. We organize this event to inspire and motivate our students to consider a STEM career by creating an awareness of STEM possibilities for teachers, parents and students.
Students who are not presenting any STEM project are also required to attend STEM Festival as part of our science curriculum. On the day of festival, students are required to sign in at front office and pick up STEM Festival Homework. Upon visiting STEM project booths, students are required to answer all questions for at least four projects and turn them into front office by 3 PM. Students will be receiving a homework grade based on their performance on this paper.
Please click here for detailed STEM Festival Schedule !
Please click here for STEM Festival Assignment!
Please click here for STEM Festival Flyer!
Please feel free to watch following video from previous year's STEM Festival.
Sample Flyers
Download the sample FLYER 1
Making interview with the parents during festival
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Attention: this video below is not from the actual STEM fest, it is one of the practice days done one week before the Fest !!!
Download the sample FLYER 2
Organize STEM Festival practice days of their subjects in which the students present their projects in front of teachers/administrators/judges a few weeks before festival time. These STEM practice days can be held as STEM competitions.They will also help us to give feedback to the students and make the students ready for the STEM Festival. Here are some samples such as chemistry home-experiment contest , MATH practice day, Physics Showcase
SAMPLE FLOOR PLAN FOR VISITORS
You can use http://floorplanner.com/ to make floor-plans
Which T-STEM benchmarks are covered by STEM Festival ?
3.1.A Develops structures and processes for marketing and recruitment to encourage participation from underrepresented students and families (transportation or plans for transportation to the school, child care for family events, and translation of all recruitment and marketing materials).
3.1.C Develops a systemic recruitment plan that includes students, parents, counselors, teachers, district, and community.
3.3.A Develops and implements systemic, tiered strategies for student support and retention (outreach, early intervention strategies, mentoring, tutoring, counseling, and other supports for academic and socio-emotional growth).
3.3.B Hosts orientation session(s) and summer bridge program(s) to facilitate successful student transition into rigorous college-prep curriculum and a STEM focused classroom environment.
3.3.C Provides all students with opportunities and the expectation to assume roles of responsibility within the classroom, Academy, and community.
3.3.D Provides all students access and expectations to engage in purposeful school-sponsored activities.
3.3.E Hosts parent seminars to develop deep understanding and commitment to the rigor of college readiness and the high expectations of a STEM Academy.
5.2.E Participates in extracurricular academic activities centered on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
5.3.B Creates an environment for shared teacher responsibility and accountability for student learning across programs, content areas, and classrooms.
5.4.D Promotes applied and collaborative learning, and provides students with opportunities to present/defend their work to peers, community, industry, and university leaders.
5.4.E Promotes a rich culture that incorporates a natural use of current technologies to enhance instruction, curriculum, teaching, and learning, and STEM literacy.
5.5.A Promotes technologically proficient and scientifically literate students with highly developed academic vocabulary and STEM technical vocabulary.
5.5.B Graduates 21st century literate students proficient in: English, reading, speaking, writing, numeracy, arts, health, sciences, and world languages; government, civics, history, and geography; environmental science; global awareness; information, communications, and media technology; and financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurship.
5.5.D Provides opportunities for students to demonstrate the relevancy of the content through reading, writing, speaking, and presenting.
5.6.E Uses performance-based assessments that allow students to demonstrate their understandings of STEM concepts.
6.1.C Establishes multiple pathways of parental communication with the Academy such as regularly scheduled parent conferences, newsletters, websites, campus visits, etc.
Benefits and Outcomes of STEM Festival (School Festival)
Parents will be more involved and informed regarding students’ STEM activities (an important requirements mentioned T-STEM benchmarks);
All 8th grade students with their parents will be able to receive more information about STEM activities, teachers, science classes and labs (an important requirements mentioned T-STEM benchmarks) . Such direct interaction is much more effective than a few teachers or administrators simply giving a PowerPoint presentation in school cafeteria. Students have a chance to present their works to the visitors, school staff and visitors.
In addition to the goals of science-math teaching, these activities significantly contribute to the increase of social intelligence, language and presentation skills, and marketing skills for student presenters.
Schools achieve the important requirements of T-STEM benchmarks mentioned in the T-STEM blueprint.
Students learn and practice the conceptual skill of TEKS objectives for EOC-STAAR test by working on and presenting DEMONSTRATIONS.
Students learn and practice the scientific process skills of TEKS objectives for EOC-STAAR test by working on and presenting EXPERIMENTS.
