Dwight Global Community Comes Together For Hunger Relief During STEAM Weekend

More than 90 Dwight Global students and 15 teachers traveled to Dwight School New York’s campus for STEAM Weekend, January 31-February 2. This exciting, annual in-person event is filled with classes, NYC tours, and camaraderie.

This year, four large teams of students, led by faculty, competed in the Canstruction Junior challenge. An international hunger relief charity, Canstruction invites students to design and build large-scale structures entirely out of canned goods, honing and showcasing their mathematics, art, design, engineering, physics, and technology skills.

Each team competed to recreate a “DG” in red, white, and blue, using 324 cans. Each Canstruction team had 150 minutes to plan, design, and create their project.

“The secret to a great canstruction is how you cantilever and otherwise defy gravity in the design,” said Dwight NY’s Design teacher Rob Gilson, who facilitated the event. “By removing a support can from their build, students have to engineer a different way for the design to remain standing.”

Michael Beecham, Grade 12 Dean and Lead Dean, ran the activities with Mathematics teachers Ryan Markatos and Laura Thul.

“All teams collaborated to overcome and use challenges they faced throughout their build,” said Thul. “Group B, consisting of mainly eighth and ninth graders, earned the highest score.”

Ahead of the event, Dwight Global ran a fundraising drive to purchase the food cans, and students submitted their individual designs using Tinkercad, a free, online 3D design tool.

After the STEAM weekend, students packed and donated more than 1,300 cans of food to NY Common Pantry, said Thul.

“We are deeply moved by the generosity of our community,” said Liz Hutton, Head of Academics and Student Affairs, who worked on the event with Dean of Student Life Paul Roncone. “While spending our weekend exploring food science and the wonders of New York City, we also took time to reflect on the realities of food insecurity and hunger faced by so many New Yorkers. Our students embraced this service opportunity, demonstrating their empathy and commitment to making a difference.”

Voices in Action Week

Students participated in Voices in Action from January 20 to 24, with five days of engagement inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and centered on the power of storytelling. Students studied Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Langston Hughes’s “I look at the world” poem, and John Legend’s Glory lyrics. A special Spark Talk with JGo, co-founder of Written Out Loud — a program devoted to publishing student work — took place Thursday. On Friday, students wrote about how they can use their skills to drive social change. The week was planned by DEI Coordinator Dustin Purdy and Dean of Student Life Paul Roncone.