As students work together to complete challenges with a small remote-controlled robot, they celebrate each success with high-fives and excitement, capturing the spirit of Glenview’s Got STEAM, freshman Will Vorhies, program mentor, said. Glenview’s Got STEAM is focused on inspiring young minds in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) before they reach high school, Vorhies added.
Glenview’s Got STEAM started as an initiative to support underrepresented students in STEAM, Mike Sinde, Career and Technical Education Teacher, said. High schoolers get to mentor fifth through eighth graders in activities hosted at South, gaining experience for the mentors as well as the students, senior and mentor Shuja Raina said.
The event has expanded to alternating workshops between South and the Glenview Public Library, reaching 20 to 30 students at each, Sinde said. Each workshop includes experiments and activities to help develop STEAM skills, Vorhies said. The program’s expansion prompted a rise in volunteer involvement, with students taking on mentor roles, Sinde said.
“This year, we have more volunteers than ever, which speaks to the ability of our students to give back and help others,” Sinde said. “Seniors [have] taken the role of being mentors and [helped] encourage the Glenbrook community to be exposed [to] STEAM topics.”
Glenview’s Got STEAM plans to expand by partnering with District 34 to offer a week-long summer camp, Sinde said. The camp will provide students from schools, including Hoffman, Westbrook, and Springman, the opportunity to dive deeper into STEAM topics, Sinde said.
“Instead of just being a once-a-month workshop for an hour and a half, [we] would do a full summer camp with District 34 students,” Sinde said.
Originally under the Glenbrook South Engineering Club, Glenview’s Got STEAM has evolved significantly, becoming its own club just this year, senior Emily Lien, Co-President, said. Past workshops have included activities like an egg drop to demonstrate physics principles, making slime for a chemistry lesson, and creating ice cream to add a twist to learning, Lien said.
“[One event] last year was chemistry-themed,” Lien said. “The kids that were on the quieter side suddenly got so into it. It was really cool to see [them] coming out of their shells.”
Glenview’s Got STEAM gave younger students access to cutting-edge STEAM tools and technologies that were limited at to them at the time, such as 3D printers and laser engravers, senior Domenica Collaro, Co-President, said. While middle schools now offer similar tools, Collaro feels fortunate to have provided the opportunity to use such equipment through the program.
“As I visited colleges, I looked at the [makers’ spaces] and [some were] lower quality than South’s,” Collaro said. “Getting access to such [equipment at that] age is crazy. Even now, middle schools might have [some technology], but [South] truly has a lot of resources.”
For Raina, mentoring has improved his communication and leadership skills, especially when working with younger ages. At first, coordinating with other seniors to mentor a small group of kids was challenging, but over time they made it work, Raina said.
“Learning to communicate with younger children in a way that makes sense and [is] not boring helped me in other areas, for example, talking to my younger sister or tutoring,” Raina said.
One of the most rewarding aspects of working with the students is seeing their enthusiasm and passion for learning, Collaro said.
“You can see excitement on [students’] faces, which [makes] me happy, because a lot of work goes into planning these activities, [so] it [is] really fun to see [them] work well,” Collaro said.
