Killian Peck with one of the STEM boxes he tested this summer.
Killian Peck was excited about the STEM boxes he ripped into this summer – even though they came from his mom. College of Education Director of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships Kristina Peck ’08 recruited her son to “test” the mini-science lessons she doled out over the break.
The kits, filled with materials and instructions for experiments and activities, were meant to keep third- through fifth-graders in the greater Fredericksburg region engaged with science, technology, engineering and math, even while school was out. For the second year in a row, Peck worked with community partners to mail them to subscribers in June, July and August and get them into hundreds of hands – all in a quest to foster STEM thinkers.
“I see what they remember when they come home from school,” said Peck, a former high school math teacher, self-described STEM nerd and mother of three boys, including Killian, a fourth-grader at Courthouse Road Elementary School in Spotsylvania.
To ensure those memorable – and interactive – lessons reached students throughout the summer, she collaborated with fellow professors and interns; key players at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division; and even Amazon Web Services, to bring the STEM-box project to life.
“Buoyant Battleships” taught kids about engineering, giving them the tools to build and test small boats for their weight-bearing capacity, using aluminum foil and pennies. “Codebreakers and Ciphers” shed light on the message-protecting science of cryptography, with recipients creating secret communications using cipher wheels and invisible ink. “Rocket Science” illustrated the principles of propulsion and aerodynamics, through the construction and launch of chemical reaction-powered projectiles, using plastic bottles and baking soda.
Each package also came with a link to a video showing how the concepts come to life at the Dahlgren naval base.
“The kids had a blast and loved it,” Hartwood Elementary School Principal Brian Raska wrote in an email to Peck. “Teachers said the lessons provided were easy to implement and follow.”
But the team didn’t stop with promoting the boxes to area schools. They worked with the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, along with UMW Assistant Vice President for Development and Campaign Operations Beth Hunsinger, to secure and implement sponsorships from Amazon Web Services and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26 branch.
They teamed up with the local Spreading Smiles program, which aims to ensure kids don’t go hungry when school is out, and the Fairy Godmother Project for children undergoing pediatric cancer treatment. And they distributed the kits at events at the Bragg Hill Family Life Center, Loisann’s Hope House and the Thurman Brisben Center.
“Being able to engage these students over the summer is so powerful,” Peck said. “It might give someone an idea to be something they never thought they could be.”