S.T.E.A.M. night booked for St. John school gym

Glory Dickerson, left, and Morgan Stanley at the 2016 S.T.E.A.M. night in St. John.

Lucas Elkins shows off a project to a youngster in St. John last year.

St. John/Endicott schools will be displaying student work at a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Art (S.T.E.A.M.) night next week in the St. John gym.

Principal Mark Purvine said elementary students will set up as many as 21 exhibits the morning of Thursday, March 9, and a group of judges from Washington State University and the local community will come to judge the exhibits. The students will demonstrate the exhibits for the judges. Purvine said several of the exhibits will be interactive.

The exhibits will remain in place throughout the day, and the event will be open to the public from 5-7 p.m.

During the public portion, art will be also be on display.

“The S.T.E.A.M. portion will be heavily arts based and likely to be very interactive,” said Purvine. “That will be largely the high school program.”

Purvine said there will be a wide variety of art items on display, including clay projects, ceramics and paintings, among others. He also noted that art teacher Travis Echanove received a grant from the Hagen Family Foundation in November of 2015 for a 3-D printer, and some art work produced with that will be on display as well.

The school hosted its first S.T.E.A.M. night last year, and Purvine declared it a success.

“We ran out of space in the cafeteria last year” he said. “It was a great thing.”

Purvine said he expects a similar crowd this year.

“I’m confident we’ll have a fairly full gym of folks enjoying what the kids have put together,” he said.

Science teacher Rae Maloney has been working with the elementary students on their exhibits and helping to plan the science fair portion, Purvine said.

The science fair portion will be hosted in the gym, and the art portion will be hosted in the cafeteria.

Concessions will be available during the evening, with proceeds benefitting the school’s science program.