Mary Roberts Elementary School held its annual STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) week earlier this year, where students in grades K-3 heard from guest speakers and participated in experiments and activities.
First grade teacher Rosemary Anderson explained how up until 2020 the event was held for only one day, but she wanted to find a way to make it more meaningful to students.
“It was like a fly-by where people would stay for one day and I was like, ‘I love science. There’s got to be a way to make it stick some more,” Anderson said.
During the pandemic when schools were shut down, Anderson decided to create videos for her students explaining different areas of STEM. People in the community were happy to get on board and help any way they could.
“I got some parents, every day, to do something from the science, technology, engineering and math field,” Anderson said.
Along with all the experiments and activities, this year’s festivities included multiple assemblies, with the help of funding provided by the Moorestown Home & School Association. The school also sold T-shirts during the week, and the proceeds will help fund assemblies for 2024.
“Through all the efforts of everyone helping and the extra assemblies, it’s been great,” Anderson said.
This year, events were both in-person and virtual. Although the week was completely virtual in 2020 and 2021, Anderson saw how it opened more doors. Since then, she’s seen how it’s quickly taken to everyone involved.
“It’s been a weird and rocky start because of COVID and because of quarantine and because of being virtual, but the cool thing about virtual is if a class is just logging in … Then it opens up to the whole grade level, so the whole grade level can watch a virtual presentation and ask questions.”
Anderson touched on how special it was to see the impact that the week left on the students.
“This year, I think, started to really hit that it’s becoming a staple now, which is kind of cool,” she said. “So I hope that it leaves some sort of stick in their mind that there’s a lot out there … You have to be the change if you want, but you should be able to see yourself in that role.”
STEM week will continue to be held both in-person and virtual but as it continues to grow, Anderson is excited to see what each year brings. She’s also thankful for those who work together to bring the magic to the students and has a message for the students’ parents.
“I absolutely could not be the only person doing this if it wasn’t for the staff, if it wasn’t for the parents, if it wasn’t for the Home & School, if it wasn’t for Brian (Principal Brian Carter),” she said. “I think that if parents could hear anything, I think it should probably be a ‘thank you’ and probably a ‘welcome,’ because I appreciate what you did, but you’re not done yet.”
