Best Practice
Patriots STEM Elementary presents Math and Science Night
“The night was a great opportunity for all of our families to come together and engage in STEM activities. We are always looking for ways to share our STEM program with the community."
-Steven Bookhart, principal of Patriots STEM Elementary
Patriots STEM Elementary is not only dedicated to engaging our students in STEM education, but also in introducing our program and the amazing work our kids are doing to the community and families of our school. Each spring we hold Math and Science Night for families, staff members, and business partners to come together and engage in STEM activities. This year over 200 families attended this exciting event and participated in over 20 STEM based activities led by our staff members, community partners, and volunteers. With retaining students in our STEM pipeline being a major goal at our school, this night illuminates for families the benefits and unique characteristics of STEM education. Getting the entire family engaged and working together to complete engineering challenges, solve math problems, and experiment with science, showcases to attendees the fun and possibilities of STEM education.
To assist with the numerous activities and to strengthen our partnership within our STEM pipeline, we solicited the help of our middle and high school students. In addition to assisting with the activities, families spoke with our middle and high school volunteers about the opportunities at JN Fries Magnet Middle and Central Cabarrus High School.
Another important aspect of Math and Science Night is the opportunity to showcase the partnerships we are building with the community. This is a great chance for us to create new connections and let our current business partners share information with the families of Patriots. Companies such as Bricks 4 Kidz, LearningRx, and Cold Blooded Encounters all participate in our event and are able to share a little more about their own businesses with families.
We are continuing to expand this night each year to provide even more opportunities for families to engage in STEM. You are of course invited to our school this year on March 3rd to see the event in person and come get a sneak peek at the excitement that is radiating through our county around STEM education.
The brochure above is an example of what is handed out to families and community partners that attend our Math and Science Night. It details all of the events from last year.
Students are encourage to bring a math or science joke to our event and record themselves. We compiled their jokes and came up with the videos below. These were shared on PTV news to encourage students to attend as well as give them a chance to be on the news.
Middle school and high school STEM students volunteered to help Patriots teachers work with families at Math and Science Night. We had over 30 STEM students come help out. This was a great way to build relationships in our pipeline as well as introduce our students to mentors in STEM. We were able to sign off on volunteer hours and give STEM points to our high school students who helped out.
#PatriotsSTEM
Families uploaded pictures from Math and Science Night using the hashtag, #PatriotsSTEM for a chance to win giftcards to some local restaurants including Texas Steak House, Faith Coffee and Sweets, and Razoos. Great advertising and fun for everyone involved!