by Elise Tran and John Le, Staff Writers
On Saturday June 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD) introduced a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) fair hosted at Ocean View High School to encourage and motivate students to join the STEAM field.
All high schools in the district participated in this event excluding Westminster High School. The fair was free of charge.
There were various outside activities that were evolved around the idea of STEAM. Marina High School had a station called the “instrument petting zoo” and Edison High School focused on terrariums. Fountain Valley High School had only one booth hosted by science teachers Lisa Battig and Terah French. The booth focused on the use of solar ovens by making s’mores in them.
“It looks like the kids are having a really great time and it looks like there is a lot for them to do and see and be exposed to. So, I think that’s really great,” said Battig.
Inside the theater, schools and other programs that promote STEAM were showcasing what they had in store. Opterra Energy Services was there to promote the use of solar energy, while Marina High School was able to showcase their programs such as Virtual Enterprise. There were many more booths both inside and outside the buildings.
There were guest speakers from the areas of STEAM inside the library. Speakers included Melinda Nicewonger, Mark Castruita, Marco Curreli and John Wood speaking about various subjects such as ice drilling.
Band performances played from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with the Marina High School band and the Music Media Entertainment Technology (MMET) program from Academy of Performing Arts (APA) at Huntington Beach High School.
“The more awareness about STEAM and STEM the better, because unfortunately we learn in school calculus and math and such and good sciences. Those are just foundational,” said Gregory Butler, director of tech school, an after school provider. “We actually need to build stuff and that’s what STEM fairs do.”
