STEM-ing at Wilcox School

LIHUE — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. got to sit on the school-created hovercraft during the Elsie Wilcox Elementary School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Night.

“You know how big he is, and, it worked,” said Wilcox School teacher Barbara Bloemke. “The hovercraft lifted him up and didn’t collapse.”

The hovercraft was just one of the many hands-on exhibits that explained the use of scientific concepts to create functional tools and projects that attracted hundreds of school students, their families and friends.

Coordinated by the school’s teachers to demonstrate topics in science, technology, engineering and math, the school staff got help from community partners to enhance the evening of excitement and fun with exhibits including slime, plant science and creating light sabers.

Leila Kobayashi, vice principal, said this was the third year the school has offered the family night as a demonstration that learning can be fun.