Friday November 8th is National STEM/STEAM Day.

It is celebrated each year to recognize the importance of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) in education and to encourage people to consider careers in these fields.

Over the past 25 years, it has increasingly focused on STEAM subjects, since studies in the early 2000s revealed that US students were not succeeding in STEM subjects as quickly as in other countries.

For many local schools, it’s more than a set of subjects – it’s a way of thinking.

to Selwyn School In Argyle, all students in grades 1 through 4 have a dedicated STEAM class each week.

“It really prepares them for those critical thinking skills,” said Melissa Murphey, Selwyn School’s Techbrarian. “Thinking about how things work, why they work, and going through the engineering process and the design process where they test things. And if it doesn’t work, try again. And try to get it until it works. Learning from those mistakes they made.”

The school sits on a 10-acre property tucked away in Copper Canyon in Argyle, Texas.

“Our children use all our spaces as educational spaces. We have a robust outdoor education program. Our kids go hiking. They work in the gardens. We are currently working on a paint garden that incorporates science and art,” said Murphey.

The STEAM class takes place every Friday and allows teachers to make STEAM accessible and fun for all students.

“We have very little absenteeism on Fridays,” Murphey said.

She added: “We really want children to see the connections between technology and art. I have a 3D printer, so they really see that connection there, where something is taken and designed on a computer, and then we can physically create them for them. .”

In the weeks leading up to National Steam Day, students worked on hands-on projects such as building pinball machines from scratch with cardboard, using 3-D printers and creating a marble track with wooden blocks.

“We give them the tools to figure it out for themselves without having to. We work more as guides instead of teaching them. We let them figure it out and come to their own conclusions and how they think science works for them,” Murphey said.

Murphey said that in today’s technology-focused world, it’s important for students to have a strong understanding of STEAM and all the career possibilities that could come from it.

“They can do the things where they get their hands dirty and go out and work in the garden. They build things. They do things. They explore,” she said.

Zaden Wishert, an eighth-grader at Selwyn School, said the school’s STEAM classes even helped him overcome dyslexia.

“Visual is definitely easier for me, so doing all these projects and having fun really helps,” he said. “I can definitely say there are some concepts that I’m in that really push my limits and help me. You teach other concepts that I understand easily, but I think overall it’s really helpful for me to grow.”

Selwyn School says STEAM encourages students to work together and come up with new ideas, whether they want to be engineers, artists or business owners in the future.