58th year, No. 17
Serving the Nato, Naples and Gaeta military community in italy
STEM Night at Naples Elementary School
Friday, May 3, 2013
W hat ’ s I nsIde
By MC3 Caitlin Feddersen, Navy Public Affairs Support ElementEast Detachment Europe
Naples Elementary School (NES) held a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) night for kindergarteners aboard the Naval Support Activity Naples Support Site, April 22. Students created balloonpowered cars that ran over various textured floors to see how far they would travel. “I think this event went really well,” said Rossana Kistler, a parent at the event. “The setup and execution went very smoothly, and it kept the attention of six-year-olds, so that was fantastic. It was very well thought out and planned.” STEM is an initiative and educational program designed to provide students with opportunities to be successful in the various career fields associated with STEM. Its purpose within schools is to help impassion students to pursue careers in these disciplines. “Our big goal in elementary school is not only to make the
Tour of Italy and Other May Events in Naples Pages 4-5
Parents and their children participate in a STEM night for kindergarteners aboard Support Site at the Naples Elementary School, April 22. Students created balloon-powered cars, which ran over various textured floors to see how far they could travel. (Photo by MC3 Caitlin Feddersen)
students aware of STEM, but also their parents,” said Sherri Zimmermann, NES education technologist. “We want to encourage the parents and the students to study STEM throughout school. At the elementary school we’re trying to spark that interest.” The elementary school has been implementing STEM over the last few years to the point that they are holding a night dedicated to it almost every month. Each event highlights a specific grade level and students participate in a project that emphasizes material they are currently covering in the classroom. Parents are invited to attend and participate alongside their children. Each
project takes the form of an experiment. Students theorize about possible experiment outcomes and then conduct the experiment to see what actually happens. The results are posted at the end of the evening for all to see. “It takes a lot of work on the teachers and parents’ parts to come and participate with the children and to help them understand all the data they collect,” said Kistler. “The teachers do a good job of tailoring it to the different age groups. Tonight was perfect for kindergarteners.” The three goals of the STEM initiative within Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) are: create K-12 stu-
Bingo Participants Take Over High School
Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Katie Ader, from Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Naples, holds up a Bingo ball for Annalee Labrador to read to the expecting crowd. USO Naples staff and volunteers hosted a free bingo event at the Naples High School cafeteria Sunday where more than 300 community members gathered for chances to win prizes such as gift certificates, electronics, gift baskets and more. The Naples Tiger Sharks swim team sold food, drinks and t-shirts to raise money for their upcoming season. Smaller prizes were raffled off in between the 12 bingo games which kept the crowd constantly in the mix to win something. (Photo by MC1 Travis Simmons)
dent interest, participation, and achievement in higher levels of math, science, and technology through the engineering design process; attract and retain students to STEM fields with a focus on underrepresented and female populations; and support the national security focus on the shortage of personnel in these professions. The initiative works to achieve these goals by including courses that have been developed by teachers and are currently being piloted in the fields of biotechnology engineering, gaming technology engineering, green technology engineering, and robotics engineering. The courses aim to introduce students to contemporary disciplines in STEM fields and to encourage them to find relevance and need for higher-level mathematics and science coursework as they pursue their future goals. “DoDEA has standards for each grade level, specifically for science and math, so we take them out and we see, for example, what second graders are expected to be studying,” said Zimmermann. “They had a lot about weather so we then decide how we can relate this to what they are studying. They built anemometers and we had a retired Air Force meteorologist come speak to them about how weather works. So were making sure that the students match the standards of what they are supposed to be learning right now.” The elementary school has a goal to foster a safe and nurturing environment that provides rigorous learning opportunities to empower all students to become independent, creative, problem-solvers who demonstrate exemplary character in a global society. “I definitely recommend volunteering at a STEM night if you don’t know what it’s about,” said Kistler. “The school can always use extra volunteers. And bring your children, they’ll enjoy it.”
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