Budding scientists and engineers from public schools in Sandy Springs filled the floor of the North Springs High School gym on Wednesday as part of the Sandy Springs Education Force 2024 STEAM Showcase.
Experiments with student-built robots, chemical experiments, and drone flights were among the science and technical programs the students from elementary, middle and high schools brought for the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics (STEAM) Showcase.
Exhibitors from local and national companies spent the day and evening showing how students can use science, engineering, and math. They also presented exhibits showing how they used those fields in their businesses.
Before the evening’s student showcase, Sandy Springs Education Force (SSEF) officials explained the purpose of the event and thanked the sponsors and exhibitors for their participation.
North Springs High School Principal Scott Hanson said it was exciting that the students got to see what the companies do in the real world and that gave them an idea of an opportunity in their future.
SSEF was thrilled to have its 14th annual STEAM Showcase at North Springs, the organization’s executive director, Irene Schweiger, said.
“What are we teaching these kids? We’re teaching them creativity, collaboration, critical thinking skills, communication,” Schweiger said. ‘Those are the skills they need in the future. And they are inherent in every single one of these exhibits that we show today.”
In the three years of their partnership with SSEF to provide after-school STEAM programs, Rangewater Impact chair Tiffanie Down said she has witnessed firsthand the positive impact on the communities.
RangeWater Real Estate established the Impact Foundation in 2020 to strengthen neighborhoods with community-centered contributions and initiatives.
Ison Springs Elementary School was one of the exhibitors at the STEAM Showcase. Kyla Rogers said it is one of four elementary schools in the Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education program. In one of the CTAE units, students in first through fourth grade learned about computer science. They followed that up by building Lego devices and programming them.
The VEX Robotics Club at Ridgeview Middle School meets twice a week, Argentina Amores said. In competition with other schools, they design and build robots to manage tasks like picking up a block at one position and dropping it somewhere else within a time limit.
“They have to come up with the model of the robot to do that. So, as you can see, they are all different. They design them differently and it’s totally up to them what they do,” Amores said.
Patrick Mahaffey, the dean of Engineering, Construction and Manufacturing Design for Gwinnett Technical College, was part of the school’s team at the STEAM Showcase.
“I let kids, students know that there are other opportunities out there than just going to a four-year college or even going to our place,” he said.
Mahaffey said 96 percent of the available jobs require a two-year degree or less. These are good-paying trade jobs, he said. Gwinnett Technical College also has computer science and business programs. Students who enter programs like welding can spend two semesters in training and then enter the workforce making $30-$45 an hour, he said.
