Walnut Hills Celebrates Art & Science with STEAM Fest

Walnut Hills Elementary celebrated the arts and sciences in the Waukee Community with a STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics). Fest at their school on Wednesday, March 1. Organizations and our own Waukee Community School District members joined in on the action.

Organizations, parents, staff and students brought in their projects to share such as catapults, parachute drops, Rube Goldberg Machines, a backwards bike, musical water bottles, oil/watercolor bookmarks, guinea pigs, laser engraver, 3D printers, legos, bugs and more.

The STEAM Fest was implemented by fourth-grade teacher Joni Gilchrist and librarian Sara Emerick in collaboration with student, Sarah Derry with suggestions made by the community. Gilchrist and Emerick have a passion for arts and sciences and wanted to find a way to celebrate it with like-minded students, parents and community members.

“STEAM Fest has had a huge impact on students interest and excitement for STEAM.  They are discussing and exploring things they never thought of before,” said Gilchrist.  “Parents and students are excited about what they experienced at STEAM Fest and would like to see more future opportunities for students.”

Overall there were 24 exhibits from a variety of places such as: Pioneer, Society of Women Engineering, Iowa State, Waukee Veterinary Clinic, North American Minerals, Timberline School Engineering, Teachers Going Green, Engineering for Kids, Dallas County Ag in the Classroom, Mad Science of Iowa, DuPont Pioneer and Mathnasium.

“We began this journey in August and worked diligently with a parent volunteer until the night of the event,” said Gilchrist. “We had lots of support from our PTO and staff. It was so much fun, that we are looking forward to another opportunity next year to host STEAM Fest.”