On March 14th, Rochester Area School District hosted a community night known as the STEAM WALK, which was partially funded by the Beaver County Educational Trust. The event was a roaring success as over 270 people attended! The Steam walk is a night where students and families of the Rochester area can come to the school and participate in “Stem/Steam” related events, this year it was themed around the “Rainforest and Environment.”

A variety of vendors came to support the school and host activities, as well. The tables were manned by Rochester Middle School students, who oversee and run the activities. Rochester teachers and school personnel also dedicated their time to offer help to the event. Rochester students worked to plan, prepare, and execute the events that they hosted for the Steam Walk. Some of the events allowed families to observe, and others students got to participate. This was the second year that Rochester has hosted a STEAM Walk.

One popular activity had students creating their very own “Rain clouds” through a science experiment using mason jars, water, shaving cream, a dropper and food coloring.” Younger students also had fun with their families by creating and decorating rainsticks. Students were given tubes, aluminum foil, a mixture of beans, rice, and other materials to decorate. Each student created a unique rainstick that illuminated the cafeteria with the sound of rain storms. Another familiar sound was that of the bongos that were in harmony at another station. Students got to experiment with the conductivity of “Food from the Rainforest” using Makey Makey to play Bongos. A few other activities included the popular making of “Jungle Slime,” Dash and Dot Coding, and boat building challenges with foil and pennies! Bridge Builders of Tomorrow sent representatives to Rochester to run a challenge, and Covestro kindly donated the materials for our slime.

Another great partnership that was made was with a company known as Brain Stem. Brain Stem not only attended the event and hosted an activity, but also offered a raffle for teachers who attended the event. Brain Stem drew a raffle to offer a free STEM class to the winning teachers classroom!!  Teachers were not the only big winners, the night was topped off with each attendee receiving “Tropical Punch” and “Jungle Crackers.” Several gifts were raffled off, and each student left with a treat bag! Overall, it was a night of great fun, and lots of learning! We would like to thank all of our sponsors, and those who participated! These include the BCET, Covestro, Brain Stem, Bridge Builders of Tomorrow, and the Beaver County Innovative Learning Consortium.

Jessica Smith, Rochester Area School District

Thank you again and we hope to see you next year!

Rochester Area School District

Beaver County, PA