Hooke-ing students into STEAM

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Jechaenna Velazco

At Bonita Vista High (BVH) on Feb. 4, 7th grader Dynnelle Adrianzen and 8th grader Antonio Zayas look through microscopes that contain Brine shrimp eggs. This was 1 out of the 6 stations in the session.

On Feb. 4th, Bonita Vista High (BVH) Hooke’s club members and volunteers ushered in and greeted Bonita Vista Middle (BVM) students and their families into the BVH campus for the club’s Science Saturday. The event encompassed two workshops for students to participate in hands-on experiments, and was planned with one goal in mind—to engage more students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM).

Hooke’s club, named after English scientist Robert Hooke’s law of elasticity, was initially founded with the purpose of promoting STEAM. Hooke’s club President and senior Stephanie Ling explains that through workshops they hope to introduce students to STEAM concepts in a way that’s fun and captures students’ interest in the subject.

“We hope to get as many students [engaged] as possible in STEAM so they know they have support if they want to pursue these different interests,” Ling said. “We want them to realize through these hands-on experiences that STEAM can be fun.”

Part of Hooke’s club’s efforts to engage students in STEAM is to ensure more students will enroll in BVH’s various STEAM programs. Hooke’s club Public Relation Officer and junior Brianna Magtoto talks about the recent closure of advanced science classes at BVH as a result of decreased interest by students.

“We want to give these [BVM] students a glimpse into what BVH is like, what our science programs are, and give them hands-on experiments to invigorate their curiosity in science,” Magtoto said. “They’re the future of STEAM and our science program here at BVH.”

The workshops included biology labs such as DNA extraction, forensic fingerprinting, and natural selection labs with Biology and Biology Forensics teacher Joseph Szakovits. The event also included chemistry labs using microscopes and geological crater formation labs with IB Higher and Standard Level Biology teacher Dr. Michelle Mardahl. BVM eighth-grader Sarah Shervanick shares the positive experience she gained from the labs. 

“Science is really fun for me because, with science, we can explain almost everything. I really liked conversing with the people here. They all have very interesting facts about the subject and the labs we’re doing are really interesting,” S. Shevanick said.

Parents were encouraged to attend the event with their children so that they could sit in on a presentation about Hooke’s club and Science Saturday. The presentation also gave parents a look into the various STEAM programs and classes offered at BVH. One parent who believes in the importance of students’ involvement in STEAM programs is S. Shevanick’s father Peter Shervanick.

“I think any chance you get to have kids do hands-on experiments in a fun environment that’s not part of a school day, is going to encourage them to want to do it more. I think it also shows the school that there are people who want to do it and encourage them to put the budget into the science programs,” Shervanick said.

Another part of Hooke’s club mission of getting students interested in STEAM includes making STEAM more accessible. One way the club is achieving this is through the creation of online video segments covering a variety of STEAM concepts and experiments. The club has partnered with the Bonita Museum and Cultural Center to create explanatory STEAM videos.

“The whole point is making sure that everyone has an opportunity to learn about STEAM. So we post our videos on YouTube and on our Instagram. Then the museum will also post videos in their newsletters or on their website through different links. A lot of the experiments that we show are with materials you can easily get and are cheap and accessible,” Ling said.

While maintaining student interest was a driving factor in the event, Science Saturday was also a fundraiser, where parent attendees could donate to the club. Ling emphasizes how valuable fundraising is to supplying the BVH science department.

“One thing that I think is really important about our club is the aspect of fundraising, because we’re not only fundraising for our experiments but we’re also fundraising for the Bonita Science department. A lot of teachers, especially science teachers, have to use their own money to supply experiment materials,” Ling said.

Ultimately, through Science Saturday the Hooke’s club strives to fulfill its purpose in hooking students into STEAM. By encouraging and supporting young students’ interest in STEAM, they are giving students more opportunities and creating a stronger science department at BVH.

“There’s that phrase ‘the younger generation is the future’ and they are eventually going to be where we are. We just want to provide as many resources [to the students] and introduce these kinds of topics to kids as young as possible,” Ling said. “When they get that exposure as younger people they have more opportunities. We’re setting them up for success.”