BPS celebrates STEM Learning at Annual Region VI Boston STEM Fair

Boston Public Schools (BPS) celebrated the creativity, innovation, and passion of our students at the 79th annual Region VI STEM Fair!

Students presented projects that spoke to the social and scientific issues currently impacting them and their communities.

BPS celebrates STEM Learning at Annual Region VI Boston STEM Fair

Boston Public Schools (BPS) celebrated the creativity, innovation, and passion of our students at the 79th annual Region VI STEM Fair! The Region VI STEM Fair is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop skills, such as collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking, developing and testing hypotheses, and data analysis, which all play an important role in our students’ overall success.

STEM is all around us in nearly every aspect of our lives. The City of Boston is home to pioneers in the fields of robotics, biotech, and medicine. Our young people should be immersed in all that our great city has to offer and the Region VI Boston STEM Fair allows our students to express their creativity and learning of key science concepts outside of the classroom.

Students presented projects that spoke to the social and scientific issues currently impacting them and their communities. Among the projects were Planetary Lunar Landing Devices, Wastewater Treatment, Color Choice & Identity, Fire Alarm Safety, Academic Stress & Mindfulness in Seniors, Light Pollution in East Boston, and Cuffless Blood Pressure Devices.

This year, the STEM Fair included:

190 Student Participants
12 Participating Schools
118 Projects submitted for Judging

BPS is grateful to all of our STEM educators who are working every day to foster critical STEM skills in our students and inspire them to apply those learned skills to classroom work and to real-world situations. The STEM Department is committed to continuing to provide programming opportunities for our K-12 students and families throughout the district.

The Region VI Boston STEM Fair Awards Ceremony took place on March 11 at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. The ceremony featured musical performances from students at the O’Bryant School of Math & Science along with a Presentation of Colors by the Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH) JROTC program.

Matolah Dankoff, a Grade 7 Student at Boston Latin School won the Christa McAuliffe Grand Prize for the Junior Division & Cabot Corporation Grand Prize for her project: An Introduction to Hand-Eye Coordination.

Shuting Zhu and Louis Chiu, Juniors at the John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Science won the Christa McAuliffe Grand Prize for the Senior Division, and Sanofi Specialty Care Grand Prize for their project: Cuffless Blood Pressure Measurement Monitor via Pulse Transit Time Analysis and Arduino. They will now represent BPS as the Nominees for the Massachusetts State Delegation for the International Science and Engineering Fair in Columbus Ohio in May.
BPS will also have 23 Middle School projects that will move on to compete at the Massachusetts Science and Engineering Fair in May at Clark University, and 14 High School projects will move on to the Massachusetts Science and Engineering Fair at Gillette Stadium in April.
The Boston STEM Fair team is grateful to the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center for hosting the 79th Region VI STEM Fair, to the Madison Park Community for hosting the STEM Fair Awards Ceremony, and to the Madison Park Culinary Arts and Hospitality programs, which helped to cater and set up the ceremony.

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Preschool Expansion Grant

The Preschool Expansion Grant supports communities in developing partnerships between their public school district and community-based early education and care programs that will serve as models for expanding preschool to all 4-year-olds from low-income families in that state. The funding also supports quality improvements in outreach and coordination of comprehensive services, assuring that young children's development is supported and advanced in their home environments as well as in preschool settings.

Closing Access Gaps in Early Childhood

Internal and independent studies reveal that enrolling in education earlier than K2 has positive impacts on student performance in both the short and long terms. The positive effects of early learning programs on student achievement apply to all students, including English Language Learners and students with disabilities.

Through this grant, the Boston Public Schools provides preschool services to more than 300 4 year old children residing in the City of Boston via a partnership with community learning partners. The partners are the direct service providers for the early learning services while the Boston Public Schools Department of Early Childhood provides coaching, curriculum, and professional development support in addition to oversight and monitoring. For more information, please visit the Department of Early Childhood's website.

Preschool Expansion Grant Fast Facts

Funder: Federal though the State
Award Amount: $16 million for 4 years. FY18 is year 3 of 4.
Number of Students Served: Approximately 275 per year
Schools Served: 9 community-based organizations including Partnership with Action for Boston Community Development, Nurtury, and YMCAs of Greater Boston