Pandemic cannot stop Shelton STEAM Night
SHELTON — Elizabeth Shelton School families are now experts in Rainbow Skittles and Walking Water experiments, engineering a leprechaun trap and playing a rainbow water xylophone.
With the pandemic preventing large extracurricular gatherings — including the school’s popular STEAM (science, technology, engineering arts and math) night — ESS staffers made the traditional event online so families would not miss out on what has become an annual staple.
“This year has been challenging for so many reasons … not being able to have in-person activities is one of the toughest parts,” Kelly Young, ESS third grade teacher, said.
Young said the students really look forward to events like STEAM Night, which allows them to show families their classroom and work with friends on fun and engaging activities.
“We knew we needed to come up with an alternative plan to keep this event running this year,” Young added. “Holding events virtually still gives the students some sense of normalcy.”
ESS Principal Jamie Weber said staffers were uncertain if going virtual would be of interest to families. But feedback from the March 17 event was “tremendous,” she said.
Young said within a few hours of sending out the presentation, staff emails were flooded with positive feedback and photos of students enjoying the activities.
“I think it shows how much the students need these types of activities during these difficult times,” Young said.
"(Students and parents) loved the opportunity to complete the activities at home, at their leisure and that they were able to see what different grade levels had to offer,” Weber said. “Teachers and staff were able to have ample time to create their videos and presentations.
“Being virtual was a plus,” Weber added, “because parents could log in at any time from the comfort of their homes.”
Young said families were able to submit photos that Weber shared them with our school.
“The students were so thrilled to see pictures of their friends, so it still felt as if there was a connection,” Young added.
Young said each grade level worked collaboratively to plan two activities for their students.
“We searched for ideas on education blogs and articles and found so many engaging activities, it was tough to narrow down ideas,” Young said. “We worked in a group — with masks and social distancing — to create videos that modeled the activities. Students were able to follow along with the directions. It was the next best thing to hosting it in person.”
Music teacher Kate Hediemann said she was pleased to include an arts project as part of the night’s events.
“Music and art look so different this year, it was a great opportunity to bring families together to be creative,” Hediemann said.