Three Danbury High School peer leaders spent an hour a day recently teaching more than dozen middle schoolers about science, technology, engineering and math – but added the element of art to heighten creative interest.  They turned STEM into STEAM.  Before bringing their program to Broadview, the students did a pilot program with the English language learners at DHS. 

Seniors Kevin Lapaix, Yacodou Johnson and Naomi Thomas devised a weeklong plan to engage students every day of the after-school program.

The science portion involved making “elephant” toothpaste that taught exothermic reaction through combining hydrogen peroxide, soap, yeast, water and food color. To learn technology, students created an animation program that involved coding and art elements.  For engineering, the students built hurricane-safe buildings using pipe cleaners and straws that were to withstand the winds of a blow dryer.

The math portion taught students about fractions; by filling glasses with different levels of water, they were then able to use the cups to make music as each glass had a different tone.