Manchester Essex School District Invites Community to Inaugural STEAM Showcase

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — Superintendent Pamela Beaudoin, High School Principal Patricia Puglisi and Middle School Principal Joanne Maino are pleased to announce that the Manchester Essex Regional School District will host its first STEAM Showcase.

The Showcase will be held on March 30, from 5-7 p.m., in the High School Gymnasium, and is open to the school community.

STEAM activities combine the traditional principles of science, technology, engineering, and math with a creative twist by adding the arts.

Exhibits will include: Math Challenge Table: Community vs. Math Students Competition; displays of student artwork; Monarch Butterflies; Space Soil – “Plant the Moon;” student-engineered cars; Tank Aquascape Contest; bacterial art; and DNA extraction.

The school Green Team will be showcasing model sea creatures they have created out of soft plastics. Students are taking part in the Trex Challenge to reduce the school’s waste, and recycle plastics to highlight their impact on the world.

Also, parent Dan Ochs will demonstrate a robotic arm he created, in the gymnasium.

Many local businesses in STEAM fields are supporting the Showcase, and will be presenting as well. They include Applied Materials, Black Earth, Cell Signaling, EBSCO Publishing, Medtronics, New England Biolabs, and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, to name a few.

“The Showcase will be a great example of how our students use their curiosity to create and to explore the world around them,” Superintendent Beaudoin said. “By seeing how each of these fields interconnect, they will develop the skills to solve real-world problems and find success throughout life. I hope everyone in our community will be able to attend.”

Superintendent Beaudoin, Principal Puglisi, and Principal Maino wish to recognize High School Science teacher Kristi Umile, Grades 6-12 Math and Science Department Chair, for her hard work in organizing the Showcase.

“When Ms. Umile came to us with this idea last year, we were eager to engage our students, teachers, and community. It is so important that our students understand not only how their learning from different classes is interconnected, but also how what they are learning authentically relates to the world outside of school,” Principal Maino said.