By Ryleigh Green | Walker Valley High School

On January 23rd, hundreds of students across Bradley County attended Park View Elementary School’s STEM Olympics Night. The event featured groups from secondary schools across the county as they showed students the value of science, technology, engineering, and math. 

Elementary school students had the chance to explore activities such as 3-D printing, wooden derby cars, and architecture, all while working to fill in each of the five Olympic rings. Park View is a STEM school, meaning that it emphasizes the importance of STEM in the learning environment and careers that can be found in these fields. The hands-on activities showed students what STEM in action looked like and involved them in problem-solving and critical thinking.

The secondary students who ran the booths also found the night to be a success. Sydney Judd, a junior from Walker Valley who attended the event for her school’s chapter of Mu Alpha Theta, said that she enjoyed the event because she could show her love for math to others. “I was able to take something I am passionate about and present it to the students in a way that made them think and visualize the concepts they have been learning.” 

Students, teachers, and parents from all over the county learned a lot and had fun at Park View’s STEM Night. Elementary school students had the chance to learn about STEM’s benefits after elementary school, and both teachers and older students were able to show off their schools’ STEM programs in an engaging way. Park View’s STEM school designation gives it a unique opportunity to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, and STEM Night was an exciting way for them to share STEM with others.