Students, parents, siblings, teachers and community members all packed into the hallways of Nicely Elementary School in Greensburg Salem School District this week for the school’s annual STEAM Night.

The event, a collaboration between the school and the Parent Teacher Organization, spotlights science, technology, engineering, art and math through student-created projects and displays. Members of the local community who work with STEAM topics in their everyday lives are invited to the school to present about their careers.

Marbeth Truscello, president of the PTO, said more than 100 students participated in this year’s event and showed off their projects, which ranged from art displays to science fair-style experiments.

“It’s nice to see the families come together,” she said. “It’s just bringing all the cross-curricular ideas together. Everything ties together, the science is important as well as the math, and the art and the engineering … There’s just a lot of creativity.“

Along with projects from individual students, some classrooms from Nicely put together group projects, said Heather Holtzer, event chairperson.

Students and teachers from more senior grades manned booths to teach the younger students about science opportunities.

The event evolved over time from its past form as a more traditional science fair into more of a community showcase, said Principal Christopher Thomas.

“We try to engage family as much as possible,” he said. “We try to bring the community and our parents all together. It’s a great night, the kids are excited to build curiosity.”

Student science

Throughout the halls, students in kindergarten through fifth grade stood proudly in front of their displays, giving presentations to passerby.

Brody Bruce, a first grader, built a Hot Wheels car racetrack with his dad. Visitors could guess which angle was the best for differently weighted cars to make it through the track.

“I like playing Hot Wheels, and so I decided to do this,” he said.

Tara Button, whose two children each put together project displays at the event, said this was her third year attending.

“I think the kids enjoy it,” she said. “I think it’s good to get the families involved and doing something with their kids, and get them off of (video) screens.”

Callie Smith, a second grader, made a homemade lava lamp with Alka-Seltzer tablets, vegetable oil and water. She wanted to test whether hot or cold water made the bubbles more intense.

“It was really fun,” she said.

Her mom, Dana Smith, said multiple generations of family members often come out to see the projects.

“It’s nice to see the creativity for each grade level. It’s a great event for the kids,” she said.

‘Critters’ teach creatively

A booth at the end of the hall set up by high school biology teacher Andrea Redinger and her students added an additional twist to the night — live education animals from Redinger’s classroom, including lizards, snakes and turtles.

Students could learn about the animals from student volunteers and interact with them. Redinger and the high schoolers periodically hold “critter cruises,” themed after classic car cruises, at the elementary schools to introduce kids to her 16 different species of animals.

“All of these students were in my plant and animal biology class, so they learn about all of (the animals),” she said. “Some of them come back for community service, so their job is taking care of them and any events that they are involved in.”

“I think it’s really fun to see (the kids) interact with the animals,” said senior student Alexa George, who showed off a snake named Helix to eager elementary schoolers. “Their faces light up — I think that’s really fun to see.”

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