Education must adopt to the changing needs of America’s economy and preparing students for the workforce and for post-secondary education is a crucial part of STEAM education at The Calais School. STEAM is a regular part of our academic curriculum – various activities across a wide array of subject matter provide students with time to focus on collaboration, creativity, problem solving and communication while also offering new ways to explore and engage with the world.

STEAM Program goals include:

  1. Expanding the number of students who ultimately pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEAM fields and broaden the participation of Calais students in those fields.
  2. Expanding the STEAM-capable workforce and broaden the participation of Calais students in that workforce.
  3. Increasing STEAM literacy for all students, including those who don’t pursue STEAM-related careers or additional study in STEAM disciplines.

Please scroll down to view a snapshot of our program via our STEAM Project Gallery!

Potential Vs. Kinetic Energy

Ms. Shah presented her students with a diy “catapult challenge” to help them understand the difference between potential and kinetic energy. The fun and interactive activity challenged the students in several ways.

Making Science Make Sense with BAYER Corporation

From making “elephant toothpaste” to Styrofoam rockets and learning about friction and chemical reactions, our lower school students had a great time with our friends from BAYER! The students were given their own lab coats and goggles so they could work in teams to build their own rockets.  They were amazed to learn about all the everyday household items that can be used to practice and understand science!

TransOptions Brings Hands-on STEAM Activities to Calais

TransOptions is an organization that offers in-class environmental and STEM education programs to schools in northwest New Jersey. The highly interactive programs are designed to teach students about engineering, energy, transportation and the environment in innovative ways. Each year, TransOptions Environmental Education Manager, Kristen Tomasicchio visits Calais to teach students about the use of hydrogen as an alternative transportation fuel. Each student is provided a kit to build their own H2 fuel cell cars which are powered by fuel cells running on hydrogen produced through electrolysis.

Students Gain Insights On The Links Between Modern Technology & Health

Hands can perform a myriad of tasks like manipulating pens, pencils, needles and other tools to create art and build things. At the same time, hands are strong enough to hold a person’s own body weight. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could actually build your own life-like robotic hand? After learning about human and animal prosthetics that’s exactly what Ms. Perillo’s class did!