BUFFALO, N.Y. — In honor of National STEM (or STEAM) Day across the country, a local elementary school gave Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Elyse Smith an exclusive look at their STEAM Lab implemented this school year.
Forest Elementary in Williamsville recently introduced more STEM specific coursework into their curriculum and added it's own dedicated classroom to do so. This STEAM Lab (STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) is no ordinary classroom, but specifically designed to foster hands on learning, problem solving and teamwork. Each class gets to visit the STEAM Lab once a week, learning about new experiments and activities each week.
Kristen Streit is the STEAM teacher at Forest Elementary, and says she can already tell that this class is making a difference in her student's lives.
"I’m finding for the kiddos is that when they are met with a challenge, I am finding they are much faster to be okay with something not working out the way they want it to," Streit said. "To see them handle challenging things in a different and flexible way is very exciting."
National STEM/STEAM Day is November 8, 2021. According to the United States Census Bureau, this day is celebrated every year on this day to encourage kids to explore interests in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. They also note the high disparity between men and women in these fields. It's estimated that nearly 75 percent of the STEM workforce in the United States is male.
But with programs and an emphasis on STEAM early in a child's educational career, the hope is to inspire more diversity within these subjects for the next generation.