Some local fifth and sixth-grade students are learning about the importance of STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. And they are having fun in the process. They attended a STEM Fair at South View Upper Elementary School where they were invited to participate in a number of activities.
Matt Skovran, who teaches 5th and 6th grade Project Lead the Way classes at South View, says some local industries helped at the fair.
‘’We’ve got several different professional engineers who have come in and volunteered their time. We are very thankful to them for coming in to help us out. We’ve got several different stations around our building here – a traffic engineer from Champaign, General Electric (which) works on airplane engines,’’ said Skovran. ‘’We’ve got Toyota of Danville that came in to bring in a ‘techy’ car with all the bells and whistles.’’
Jason Brown, Senior Manager of Infrastructure Logistics at GENPAC, has a daughter attending South View. He thinks it is important for students to learn early how STEM classes can improve their lives.
‘’Especially as kids grasp concepts very easily at a young age – and they are less inhibited by the things that life teaches us that we shouldn’t do. They are willing to make mistakes – and that’s an important part of learning,’’ added Brown.
The STEM fair at South View was open to students from across Danville School District 118. Students got to participate in activities ranging from building bridges out of spaghetti and making cardboard boats to building wind mill models and flying a drone (shown here flying near the school).
