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.
For “Read Across America Week,” Mayor Michelle Wu visited the Shaw-Taylor Elementary School for a Read Aloud Event with BPS students.
BPS Senior Deputy Superintendent of Academics Dr. Linda Chen joined the Trotter School Community to celebrate the importance of reading and literacy.
Boston Public Schools celebrates National Reading Month
As BPS celebrates National Reading Month, we celebrate Reading as a fundamental building block to a student’s academic success. This month and throughout the entire school year, BPS is committed to ensuring every child has access to the highest quality, equitable literacy instruction.
This week, which was “Read Across America Week,” Mayor Michelle Wu visited the Shaw-Taylor Elementary School for a Read Aloud Event with BPS students. Mayor Wu read the book “Before She Was Harriet” by Lesa Cline-Ransome.
BPS Senior Deputy Superintendent of Academics Dr. Linda Chen joined the Trotter School Community to celebrate the importance of reading and literacy. Dr. Chen read the book “I Promise” by Los Angeles Lakers Player Lebron James to a group of excited kindergarten students.
This week and every day, our educators strive to inspire our students to choose books that showcase the talents of people from different cultures, backgrounds, and religions, telling stories of struggle, success, tragedy, and triumph. In addition to being a critical life skill, research tells us that daily reading can contribute to expanding a child’s sense of imagination, creativity and perspective. Libraries are the important spaces for students to see themselves reflected in books and narratives.
This year, BPS Library Services and the Office of Teaching and Learning invested in thousands of digital e-books, audio-books, and digital magazines in multiple languages through SORA, a digital reading tool with the goal of supporting pleasure reading and academic curiosity. This collection was curated specifically for our students, and is available to all BPS students.
In our classrooms, BPS Reading and English Language Arts classes are designed to support students with building their reading skills and asking them to tackle difficult questions about themes, word choice, and making connections to real world events and situations.
As we recognize Black History Month in BPS, we reaffirm our commitment to continuously build trust with our families and community members to eradicate the legacy of racism from our school system and close opportunity gaps for our Black students who have been historically underserved.
Boston Public Schools Celebrates Black History Month
As we recognize Black History Month in BPS, we reaffirm our commitment to continuously build trust with our families and community members to eradicate the legacy of racism from our school system and close opportunity gaps for our Black students who have been historically underserved. While we cannot change the past, we must learn from it in order to create the lasting change that future generations deserve. At BPS, we dedicate this month to renewing our promise of racial equity and social justice in our city and our schools.
“We must recommit to doing the hard work that is required to safeguard the well-being and success of our Black students and families, as well as the educators, staff, and caring adults that support our school communities,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper. “For me as a white leader, this is a time for reflection, fellowship, and thoughtful action. I feel lucky that I get to learn from the vibrant and diverse communities that make up our district.”
This begins by making and delivering on strong commitments as a district to our students, staff, and families. We are focused on cultivating and developing a skilled and diverse workforce to support our students; and, we uplift the district’s goal of providing all our students access to rigorous and culturally affirming learning and enrichment experiences.
We are so proud of our schools for their incredible work honoring the contributions of our diverse Black communities in Boston. On February 11th, Boston Arts Academy hosted a sensational Black Empowerment Assembly to celebrate this important month, which featured music and dance performances, student artwork, and research presentations. On February 26th, the Mary Lyon K-12 School held a powerful celebration featuring Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons as the keynote speaker, along with amazing student performances. Mayor Simmons held an interactive conversation with students grounded in the origin of February as a celebration of Black History Month, but also in the understanding that Black History is American History. In Central Office, the festivities also included student acts, guest speakers, and staff reflections on Black and African-American history.
As Black History Month comes to a close, we move forward every day with the core belief that every classroom in every school in BPS must be equipped for a high quality student experience and that the district must continuously work on fostering a culture that is inclusive of all and challenges historical biases.
Student writes Children's Book as part of Youth Advisory Board Project
BPS Health and Wellness Youth Advisory Board Member hosts Read Aloud Event
Boston Latin School 10th Grader Writes Children's Book as part of Youth Advisory Board Project
The BPS Office of Health and Wellness is deeply committed to helping students learn how to make healthy decisions. This includes empowering students to take action to help other students learn more about the importance of making healthy decisions.
Empowering Teens Through Health (ETTH) Youth Advisory Board (YAB)
The Office of Health and Wellness established the Empowering Teens Through Health Youth Advisory Board during the 2020-2021 school year as a way to increase student voice in health programming across BPS. The group meets weekly in person and the meetings before the winter recess focused on community building and building health knowledge and skills.
Public Health;
Health Equity;
Health Communication;
Health Advocacy; and
Health Data.
After the winter recess, YAB students identify a health initiative they would like to lead and work in small groups for their projects. YAB hosts a pitch panel where students pitch their ideas in January and YAB groups engage with internal and external partners to get feedback on their projects throughout the second part of the year. YAB members also have opportunities to hear presentations from departments and give feedback on the programming. Last year, YAB had the opportunity to present their work to the District Wellness Council.
This year's YAB project focus on the following topics:
Bike promotion and safety education;
Health Education for All Learners;
Mental Health promotion - instagram and podcast; and
Reducing food waste in schools.
Hennigan Read-Aloud with Jilliane Liranzo
Jilliane's project last year was to write a children's book focused on disability advocacy. She was passionate about bringing disability representation to storybooks to create a sense of belonging for people with disabilities.
Following the District Wellness Council YAB presentation in May 2024, Hennigan K-8 School Principal Tanya Woodard expressed interest in piloting Jilliane's book at her school.
Jilliane was excited to share her story with young students in BPS and we are hoping to organize another read aloud and identify ways to bring the book to all elementary schools in the district. She led a reading of the book she created, "We Are All Human,” a children’s book about understanding and accepting people with disabilities.
A two-year board member of the Empowering Teens Through Health Youth Advisory Board, Jilliane wrote her book last year and plans to host other read-alouds throughout the BPS community!
The Boston Public Schools Office of Equity, in conjunction with Cabin 3 Media and the Boston Arts Academy, completed the filming of the new "24/7 Respect" video on December 7 and 8, 2019.
The new video is an educational tool for students to learn how to prevent, report and address bias-based conduct and sexual misconduct in or outside of school. The video includes three scenarios related to bias-based conduct, and one related to sexual misconduct. Educators will pause to break down each scenario with their students and help them understand specific steps to take to respond to these types of behavior.
Student actors from Boston Arts Academy, Boston College High School, and Dartmouth College spent the weekend developing their technical and on-camera skills. They received on-set coaching and support from Emerson College student Chantal Encalada and were directed by Sabrina Avilés of Cabin 3 Media.
The second annual 24/7 Respect program will be implemented in the Boston Public Schools during the week of March 9 to 13, 2020. School districts across the country will pilot 24/7 Respect in their districts throughout the spring.
Meet the Cast!
Ashley Alexandre (Armani) was one of the first freshman to be included on the Boston Arts Academy’s (BAA) main stage show Ruined as a member of the lighting crew and head of wardrobe. She also served as the assistant stage manager for BAA’s astounding musical Memphis during her sophomore year. In addition, she portrayed Trayvon Martin in BAA’s first lower house main stage show, Facing Our Truth. She hopes to continue acting after high school and also expand her technical theatre experience.
Luigi Bianchi (John) is an upcoming actor from Boston Arts Academy (BAA) with high expectations for his life. He is a determined actor who sets ambitious goals for himself. Luigi was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Italy. He was drawn to acting at age eight when he took part in his first show, Romeo and Juliet. Luigi is trilingual (Spanish, Italian and English), and is always looking for new opportunities to improve upon his abilities and broaden his skill set.
Veronica Cavalcanti (Host) is so excited to be apart of this project for Boston Public Schools. Previously, Veronica played Fanny Price in Newton Theatre Company's production of Mansfield Park. Her other roles have included the role of Sandy in Grease, and the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. She is currently enrolled in Dartmouth College and hopes to pursue a double major in Theatre and English.
James Delaney (David) is a sophomore at Boston College High School, and he is thrilled to be a part of this production. In his free time, he enjoys participating in theatre productions at his school and has been in two productions: Jesus Christ Superstar and Catch Me If You Can. James also enjoys writing plays in his spare time.
Anya Edwards (Host) is a junior theatre major at Boston Arts Academy (BAA). She is very excited to be a part of this project. At BAA, Anya has appeared in A Doll’s House as Nora and Memphis. She has also appeared in Great Expectations as Young Estella at Bennington College. She has appeared professionally in Dark Room at Bridge Repertory Theatre and a staged reading of Every Tongue Confess with The Front Porch Arts Collective. Her film credits include The Alphabetical Adventures of Zelda Zingaro and The Haven Project.
Johanna Tu Estrada (Extra) is a sophomore at Boston Arts Academy. She is focusing on theatre and is figuring out her next steps for the future.
Genesis Hernandez (Clarisol) is a senior at Boston Arts Academy. She is involved with other forms of art, such as drawing and painting. Her love for theater and acting started at a young age and has only grown over time. For Genesis, art has always been a part of her life, and she has become the person she is because of it. In the future, she hopes to continue acting while continuing her passion for visual art.
Yannai Mercado (Justina) is a junior theater major at Boston Arts Academy. She hopes to pursue theater in the future. She is very excited about working in the world of theater and exploring new opportunities.
Jesseric Mercedes (Maria) is a junior theatre arts student at Boston Arts Academy.
Aliyah Moraes (Marcela) is a sophomore at Boston Arts Academy. This is her first film production. In the future, she plans to focus on musical theatre, as her passion is singing.
Liat Rimoni (Dalia) is a junior theater major at Boston Arts Academy (BAA). She has loved the performing arts from a very young age. She has always known that she wants to pursue her passion for theatre and acting. She confirmed her passion during her freshman year while working on the lighting crew for BAA’s production of Dancing in the Streets. Her sophomore year, she participated in her first main stage show, Facing Our Truth (Rebecca/Raheem). Other productions include Annie Jr., Honk Jr. (Billy), and The Little Mermaid at Riverside Theatreworks in Hyde Park, MA, and Hairspray at the Brimmer and May School. Liat has also participated in classes at Wheelock Family Theater and Boston Children’s Theater. Most recently, she was the Assistant Director for A Doll's House at BAA. Just last summer, Liat continued her acting training at the Boston University Summer Theatre Institute. In addition to participating in this film, she will play Medea in BAA’s upcoming production.
Jedidia Santana (Julian) is a junior theatre major at Boston Arts Academy. Jedidia recently transferred from a vocal major to a theatre major, and is excited to further develop his acting skills.
Juan Sepulveda (Host) is a senior theatre major at Boston Arts Academy. Juan is a gay Latino man who is proud of his identity and hopes to establish a platform to help change the world. He has always had a love for performance and acting, and is motivated by the impact storytelling has on society. Juan is a creative and insightful person with experience in acting, directing, playwriting, dance, singing, film, and technical theatre. Juan has written and acts in his own plays, including IDream and The Restaurant. Juan has also acted in shows including Ruined, Fabulation, Waiting for Lefty, Memphis, All American Boys, Facing our Truth, and A Doll’s House.
Jada Saint Louis (Host) is a junior theatre major at Boston Arts Academy (BAA). She is so thankful for her part in this project. At BAA, Jada has appeared in Facing Our Truth as Ayanna, Blue, and Doc. She has appeared in Love's Labour's Lost through the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, a staged reading of 36 Days with the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and Proclamation, a devised piece at the American Repertory Theatre. She’s also been featured in a Boston University film, The Beez and the Chickadees.
Adriana Toruno (Extra) is Nicaraguan. Her interest in theatre began when she acted in her first play in the 6th grade. This helped to inform her decision to focus on theatre with the hope of a career performing on stage or television. Her dream is to become a professional actor, and she is very thankful to attend Boston Arts Academy. She has acted in Antigone, The Crucible, Facing Our Truth, West Side Story, Mamma Mia!, Seussical, and Into the Woods.
Keishona Weekes (Extra) is a 17-year-old theatre major at Boston Arts Academy. Her love for theatre first started in the 6th grade when she joined the drama club. Since then she has participated in Beauty and the Beast, Legally Blonde, Once on This Island, Facing Our Truth, and The Doll’s House. In the future, she plans to pursue both music and theatre professionally.
Artemis Wheelock-Wood (Mia) is currently a student at Boston Arts Academy. Artemis has acted in the following plays: Proclamation 7: Freedom Acts, Once on This Island, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, West Side Story, I Dream, Akeelah, and the Bee, Into the Woods, Brundibar & But the Giraffe, The Wizard of Oz, Memphis, Oliver!, Beauty and the Beast, Charlotte’s Web, and The Taste of Sunrise.
Carolyn J. Meadows Márquez (Administrator) joined the Boston Arts Academy leadership team in 2018. She received her Bachelor of Social Sciences in Labor Studies from the University of Puerto Rico, and her Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Boston University. She is currently pursuing a Certificate in Facilities Management from Boston University. She has used her combined passion for social justice issues, education and travel to lead professional development for teachers and families across school districts in Massachusetts.
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