Fifth graders, partnering with our neighboring Fourth grade learners, are exploring science concepts through an inquiry based curriculum called STEMscopes.  The program crosses content areas in helping students make connections through their discoveries.  “Wondering of Phenomena” questions guide student exploration through each unit.  Some of the inquiry lessons this year have had students learning how organisms interact with nonliving things in their environment, then working together to build a model to represent their understanding.  Recent student demonstrations have allowed students to recreate and identify interactions between earth’s spheres (geo, bio, hydro, and atmosphere).  Our chrome books give students opportunities to learn through “STEMscopedia” informational articles with 3D interactive links as well.  Through inquiry, students work together to discover more about God’s amazing creations.

First and second graders have been STEM buddies since the first weeks of school. For the past few weeks, we have focused our time together on the building blocks of matter. To enrich our exploration, we invited an engineer to St. Mary School to talk to us about a career in engineering. Dominic Knisely, Mrs. Cook's nephew, came as a representative of C2AE Architecture Engineering Company. Dominic explained that his job is to design water pipe systems for communities. He demonstrated how water pipes work and how engineers use the natural forces of physics to get water from one place to another in a clean, efficient way. At the end of his presentation, Dominic answered questions about engineering and advised the first and second graders to do well in the subjects of math and science, do all the work you are assigned, do all your work excellently, and to actively listen in class. The first and second graders had terrific questions and wanted to learn more about engineering as a career.

Last year, St. Mary School created a School Health Team. As a team, we applied for and was granted money through Building Healthy Communities to improve the health and wellness of our school community. We were awarded $1500! The grant we were awarded covers two specific focus areas of concern. They are physical activity and staff wellness. The physical activity part of the grant covers the cost of GoNoodle for every classroom. GoNoodle is used to get students up and moving throughout his or her day and includes curricular activities. Teachers have access to all parts of GoNoodle thanks to the grant. As for the staff wellness part of the grant, a list of ideas has been created and decisions are currently being made. Our school health team: Mrs. Amanda Wildern, Mrs. Elizabeth Wildern, Miss Kelsey Fisher, Mrs. Kelly Jones, and Mrs. Lisa Cook Submitted by Mrs. Lisa Cook