STEMfest Provides Fun Ways for Students to Collaborate

Habits of Mind is just one concept students are embracing, as a STEMfest provides fun ways for students to collaborate.

At Reynoldsburg STEM Middle school, students also ran relay races, and built giant puzzles during the annual event.

Teacher Tonya Pryor described how the students moved between the indoor and outdoor stations. “In the indoor rotation, students visited our common areas, such as the cafeteria, the Literacy Lounge and the Foundry, and discussed how Habits of Mind behaviors were used in those areas,” she said. “The outside rotation consisted of many team-building and critical-thinking games, such as relay sponge-bucket races and extreme tic-tac-toe.”

Students selected five Habits of Mind two years ago that they believed are what makes a student successful. These include collaboration, critical thinking, perseverance, acting responsibly, and leading. Principal Michelle Watts says that STEMfest is important in building core values at the school.

“Our main hope is to build a strong community of learners who share the core values of our Habits of Mind and build trust and openness with each other,” she said. “It is a great way to break down walls and get kids talking to each other and for staff to meet students outside of a traditional first day.”