STEM students showcase projects

CALDWELL  It was about science and more at the STEM Symposium for elementary schools in the Diocese of Paterson. These were student projects with a purpose: a demonstration on how to shelter the displaced, a better way to engineer weather-resistant roofing tiles to withstand hurricanes and vertical gardens to feed the malnourished.

A dozen elementary schools from the diocese participated in the symposium at Caldwell University May 15 showcasing projects that were created over the course of the academic year and included every grade. An emphasis on STEM — Science, Math, Engineering and Technology — is big in education these days. At the Catholic schools, the STEM initiatives are intertwined with Church values that seek ways to improve the lives of others and be better stewards of God’s creation.

“It’s interdisciplinary and aligned with the Gospel and Catholic social teaching,” said Mary Baier, superintendent of schools for the Diocese. “We have a community of service and faith-filled learners.” There are special STEM initiatives in place at a dozen diocesan elementary schools: hands-on innovative research and collaboration are promoted for students and teachers who have special professional development training.

Three of the schools have special certification as AdvancEd STEM schools from a nationwide group: All Saints Academy in Parsippany, St. Anthony School in Hawthorne, and St. Catherine of Bologna School in Ringwood. And a fourth, St. Patrick School in Chatham, received its special certification as an AdvancEd STEM school earlier this month.

Sixth-grader Brianna Counsellor of St. Anthony’s was well versed in terms like “parts per billion” as she explained her research on the Flint (MI) water crisis and her class project to create “Better than Brita!” water filters. “I really care about this,” she said. “Clean water is a human right.”

Other students at St. Anthony’s engineered the lightweight concrete roof tiles — testing three different formulas — as a response to the devastation following Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, and most recently, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. As part of their research, an engineer from a local firm, LAN Associates, came to speak to the students.

At All Saints Academy, students had created an edible “bubble” to hold water as an alternative to the waste of plastic water bottles. “It was a lot of trial by error,” said seventh-grader Juliana Wingard. Principal Judy Berg said the experiential nature of the projects promotes learning for students from pre-K on. “All my kids know is to learn by doing,” she said. Berg said the collaborative STEM initiatives have proven a unifier for the 240-student school, which serves three parishes in Parsippany.

The other STEM schools span the Diocese: Divine Mercy Academy in Rockaway, St. Brendan School in Clifton, St. Gerard Majella in Paterson, St. Joseph School in Mendham, St. Mary Prep in Denville, St. Mary in Pompton Lakes, St. Patrick School in Chatham, St. Therese School in Succasunna and St. Vincent Martyr in Madison.

The Pompton Lakes group made a prototype of an igloo-like shelter that would be made from polycarbonates and carbon filters. “Our main focus was on the refugees from Syria and Afghanistan,” said eighth-grader Louis Carr.

Father Peter Clarke, president of Morris Catholic High School, said he was excited by the innovation and resourcefulness of the students. “I’m blown away, amazed at the talent these people bring to their studies.”