For the fourth year in a row, Garrison Forest, an all-girls’ K-12 private school outside of Baltimore, Maryland suspended regular classes for 4th and 5th Grade for one week for girls to be immersed in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). From January 29 to February 2, girls worked in groups to create and program musical instruments to play an original song.
Collaborating in groups of three, each girl was assigned the role of Main Composer, Main Engineer or Main Programmer and used Scratch, Makey Makey and PicoBoard to design and program their instruments. Throughout the week, the students tested and made changes to their instruments, preparing them to be ready to present to parents on Friday.
STEAM week is part of the Lower School’s Imagineering program; a Garrison Forest signature program in which the school’s full time Imagineering expert Chris Shriver works with students in Preschool through 5th Grade in pre-engineering labs to teach the problem solving and collaborative skills that students need to excel in science, technology, engineering, art/design and math. The program seeks to address gender inequities in STEAM-based careers by preparing even the youngest Garrison Forest girls with hands-on experience in those fields.
