The sounds of children talking and the rustling of supplies greeted visitors walking through the doors of Tenth Street Elementary School on Wednesday during Literacy and STEM Night.
Tenth Street hosts Literacy Night twice a year to satisfy part of the requirements for Title 1 schools. Wednesday marked the first Literacy Night where the school focused on embedding STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — into the literacy component.
To finance the night of learning, Tenth Street received a $5,000 grant from local attorney Max Howard and Team Green Law. The school is in the process of obtaining STEM certification through the Indiana Department of Education.
“My team got together, and we are sitting there thinking, ‘We are going through this STEM certification, why don’t we take, and promote, this whole process we have done and bring literacy with it and connect it together?’” recounted Tenth Street Principal DJ Suchocki.
Each grade, kindergarten through fifth, read a book and chose a STEM project based on the book, bringing the book to life.
No directions came with the project, enabling students to control planning of each project and to hone problem-solving skills.
Christy Goen, data literacy coach at Tenth Street, said the projects help students think about improving outcomes.
“It really gets their mind thinking in a different way,” Goen said. “It kind of ties everything together and really helps with critical thinking.”
The projects were set up in the school cafeteria for visitors to view.
At stations in the gym, families interacted with various STEM areas, including tables for students to pick out a free book and a project to take home. A Starlab system was set up where students and parents could walk in and get a 360-degree view of the night sky.
Emalee Ohara, parent of a fourth grader at Tenth Street, has attended literacy nights each year with her son. She appreciates how each literacy night is different, all helping parents and students spend quality time together.
“I think it’s great,” Ohara said. “Anything to get any kid involved, especially with their parents. Anything you can bring to the table for parents and kids to be able to do something is a big bonus.
“Put a little bit of learning in there, but make it fun at the same time. Whenever we are out here doing this kind of thing, it brightens my day.”
Principal Suchocki said events like the Literacy and STEM Night help families and the school system form a stronger bond.
“Just because our kids come to school each and every day, we cannot do it alone,” he explained. “We have to have that family involvement as a component of it, and the best way to bring that relationship together is events like this.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.