District DIY Contest

It seems the 2020-2021 school year continues to throw curveballs our way.  Throughout the year, we have oscillated between the hybrid model and the 100% virtual models of learning.  Strangely enough, this state of constant change is starting to feel a little more normal.  If there's anything to be said of this year, it's that those in education have become very adept at rolling with the punches!

As our learning model continues to shift, an ongoing challenge for librarians is to facilitate opportunities to build community, especially in the virtual environment.  The librarians at Iroquois Central developed an at-home family challenge to help do just that.

One of the most helpful services organized through our libraries this year has been expanded access to Sora, our district's platform for digitized ebooks and audiobooks.  Even when it was difficult to get physical books in the hands of the Iroquois community, Sora was available 24/7 for students and staff to access books from our digital book collection.  

To highlight the offerings in Sora, librarians utilized STEM grant funding from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to create a mini-collection of STEM/DIY books within Sora.  These books provided the Iroquois community with lots of inspiration for projects that could be completed at home.  The books selected for this collection promoted DIY projects of many types: cooking/baking, LEGO builds, cardboard creations, and computer coding (only to name a few).

The DIY collection was showcased on Sora's main page.

In order to further promote use of the collection, librarians organized a contest centered around use of the Sora books.  The Iroquois Family DIY Contest encouraged families to look at the Sora books and work on an at-home project together.  The contest was open in late December and ran through February 1, 2021.  The contest was publicized by posting information to the Iroquois district Facebook page as well as the websites for the school libraries.  More excitement was generated by emailing students about the contest and "talking it up" in virtual library classes.  The timing of the DIY Contest was perfect, as the cold weather was an excellent time to stay inside and work on some projects!

The contest flyer.

As the contest deadline approached, many amazing submissions were sent in!  Staff members and students across grade levels shared pictures of their wonderful DIY creations.  Pictured below are just a few of the submissions:

An elaborate cardboard fort.

Cat food truck!

A crocheted Josh Allen.

Intricate LEGO house.

Animal origami mobile.

A gorgeous creation from a staff member!

The level of creativity blew the librarians away!  It was amazing to see such displays of creativity, but more importantly, it was fun to see families having fun together during these tough times.  With some of the remaining grant funding, our department was able to provide all participants with prizes.  These prizes varied by age level, but included some project supplies as well as a participation button.  Iroquois librarians look forward to hosting more contests in the future.

DIY Contest prizes.

Girls in STEM/Iroquois Family STEM Night 2019

The spring of 2019 marked an exciting time for STEM learning within the Iroquois Central Schools community, but let's start at the beginning! 

During April 2018, I had met with Mrs. Ferger and Mrs. Nicosia in order to apply for a grant through the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation to support STEM efforts for under-served communities.  Although it took a few months of waiting, we had finally heard in the fall of 2018 that our school was the recipient of a generous $50,000 grant from the foundation!  The purpose of this funding was to support STEM education initiatives for groups that were traditionally underrepresented in STEM career fields.  We all felt passionately about gearing our efforts towards supporting girls in their STEM learning.


Forming the Girls' STEM Leadership Group
Once we received the grant funding, I met with Mrs. Ferger and Mrs. Nicosia in order to solidify our plans.  We were ready to organize a Girls' STEM Leadership Group comprised of outstanding girls in grades 6-12.  The STEM teachers in the middle and high schools sent us names of girls in their classes who were hard workers, displayed leadership qualities, and would benefit from receiving additional opportunities in STEM.  Invitations to our group were delivered to each of the girls.

The invitation sent to our outstanding STEM students.

As the date for the first meeting approached, we weren't sure what to expect.  Would anyone show up?  We were surprised (and relieved!) when over seventy girls showed up to our inaugural meeting on March 5, 2019.  The purpose of the meeting was to explain the purpose of our group, the timeline of activities, and to gauge interest in the ideas we had planned for the remainder of the school year.

Timeline of events for the Girls' STEM Leadership Group.

The majority of our group's focus would be the creation and facilitation of a Family STEM Night open to the Iroquois community.  Although the Iroquois primary schools have hosted STEM nights for their students, never before has Iroquois had a STEM event open to all K-12 students and their families.  The plan was for interested students in our Girls' STEM Leadership group to take an active role in the planning and implementation of this exciting family event.

Planning for Iroquois Family STEM Night

With dozens of girls on board for our Girls' STEM Leadership Group, we were now full steam ahead with planning Family STEM Night.  This event was to be held on April 9, 2019, so we had just under two months to piece together all of the details.  Our group held five after school meetings in order to solidify the STEM Night plans.  During these meetings, the group members took care of many details, including:

• Brainstorming station activities
• Planning and preparation for each station, including writing out instructions for hands-on stations
• Writing press releases for the event
• Designing event flyers to post in each school building
• Sorting flyers to distribute to all Iroquois families
• Creating signage for each room
• Sending out event details via Instagram
• Sorting supplies for the robot contest and gift bags for attendees
• Signing up for shifts during STEM Night so all stations would be adequately staffed

Instructions made for the Glow in the Dark Slime station.

Sorting publicity flyers to distribute to each building.

Cutting out signage to go in front of each station.

Although it was a lot to ask in a short period of time, the members of the Girls' STEM Leadership group did an amazing job preparing for Family STEM Night.  Along with a small group of teachers who volunteered to assist, we were ready for the event to begin.

Iroquois Family STEM Night 2019

No one could have expected the amazing turnout we had on April 9th for Family STEM Night.  An estimated 700 people came to Iroquois Middle School to enjoy a fun and educational evening of STEM activities.  We had so many people attend that we quickly ran out of family gift bags and event programs!

As each family entered the middle school, they were given a program which outlined the event's offerings and activity locations.  The first 100 families were treated to a gift bag featuring a STEM book and other fun goodies.

Program distributed during Family STEM Night.

STEM Night swag, featuring a student-designed logo.

Families were then ushered into the auditorium where Dennis George, also known as the Quizmaster, was leading a rousing Family Feud-style activity.  Mr. George continued to entertain large crowds throughout the evening.

Dennis George was a highly entertaining presenter!

There were a variety of activity stations located throughout the school.  Families came and went to each station at their leisure.  The offerings for the event included:

Magician Demonstration

Nichols Robotics Team Demonstration

Coloring/Hands-On Microscope Stations

Robot Voting Contest (students made robots ahead of time for the chance to receive prizes)

Robot Making

Praxair Cryogenics Demonstration (complete with liquid nitrogen ice cream!)

Forensics Fun

Buffalo Museum of Science Stations

Straw Rocket Launcher Contest

 

Glow in the Dark Slime Making (this was VERY popular and VERY messy)

DIY Math Bombs (families made their own bath bombs)

Virtual Reality Roller Coaster Simulation

Robot Finch Hands-On Coding

Duct Tape Crafts

 

 

Drone Coding Challenges

 

Although it was amazing to see the happy faces of all of the event's attendees, the best part of the night was witnessing the joy and pride that the members of the Girls' STEM Leadership Group displayed throughout the evening.  Their ability to plan and implement an event at this large of a scale is a testament to their efforts and abilities!  It was a privilege to see each girl grow as a result of this special leadership opportunity.

 

 

Mrs. Nicosia, Mrs. Ferger, and I are thankful to all that have made the Girls' STEM Leadership Group and the Iroquois Family STEM Night possible.  There are so many people that have lent their support, including teachers, staff members, and parents.  Although Family STEM Night is over for this year, there is still some fun in store for the Girls' STEM Leadership Group!