BHR receives citation from Lt. Governor Karyn Polito for participating in first statewide STEM Week

Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton has received a citation commemorating the school’s participation in the first statewide STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Week from October 22-26, 2018.

Blue Hills was among dozens of honorees recognized at an event titled “Partnerships Advancing STEM Education / Celebrating STEM Week,” on December 5, 2018 at the Rondileau Campus Center at Bridgewater State University.

The STEM Week citations were given out by Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. Accepting it on behalf of Blue Hills was Vocational Director Michelle Sylvia.

“I'm honored to work with such talented, dedicated educators who inspire students to think, create, learn new things while we watch them discover and explore,” said Blue Hills Principal Jill Rossetti. “It was a truly amazing ‘lunch and learn’ experience. Students were doing math during lunch and having a blast! Ms. Sylvia did a fantastic job recruiting teachers and students to participate in our first STEM week.”

“It was awesome to see so many students participate, both by developing the projects and then other students who took part in the activities,” said Ms. Sylvia. “I enjoyed seeing students do math at lunch simply because they thought it was fun.”  

According to information distributed in the event program, “Over 50 organizations in 20 communities in SE MA hosted more than 60 STEM Week events in schools, businesses, libraries, museums, Ys, and institutions of higher education for PreK-16 students, families, and community members.”

STEM Week was initiated by Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Polito, and the STEM Advisory Council, which is co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Polito, US Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, and Jeffrey Leiden, Chairman, President and CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

The student projects that were done during STEM Week at Blue Hills and at schools across the Commonwealth highlighted the tremendous importance and value of the four STEM areas for all grade levels in education and in the dynamic professions of the 21st century. According to www.massstemweek.org, the weeklong event particularly targeted “middle and high school students, who are on the verge of thinking about college and careers.”

At Blue Hills, the CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs that participated were Engineering, Construction, Drafting/CAD, Early Education and Care, and Electrical.

During STEM Week, interactive student projects were displayed on the stage in the cafeteria at Blue Hills for Lunch & Learn, including a programmable robot named Oggy (Engineering); a tabletop electric roller coaster and maze (Electrical); a tabletop home model from Computer-Aided Design / Drafting in collaboration with Construction Technology for which students could try to calculate various components like its first-floor square footage; and races featuring gutter boats (Early Education and Care), which are miniature handmade vessels that can bob and float down a long, narrow, gutter-like container filled with water propelled by the force of someone puffing as hard as they can.

The participants and the onlookers had a great deal of fun and found the experience educational and indicative of the wealth of career and learning opportunities available in STEM.

The Blue Hills students involved were as follows: Drafting / CAD: Anthony Capobianco, Dedham; Yanni Centeio, Randolph; Liam Connor, Canton; Connor Dockham, Dedham; Joseph Fagan, Norwood; Madison Farmer,    Randolph; Stephen Felumero, Holbrook; Anne Fleury Fils, Randolph; Bryson Freeman, Randolph; Dalenchky Joseph, Avon; Adrian Maynard, Randolph; Peyton J. Murphy, Canton; Peyton L. Murphy, Avon; Isabelle Noailles, Randolph; Rebecca Raphino, Randolph.

Construction: Michael Anderson, Avon; Aidan Barrett, Holbrook; Austin Chisholm, Holbrook; Meghan Corrigan, Milton; Jake Geaney, Canton; Kylie Hung, Randolph; Kevin Krueger, Dedham; Jonathan McGettrick, Milton; Brandon McNichols, Dedham; Collin Moriarty, Canton; David Nihtila, Holbrook; Gabriel Rosa, Randolph; Eugene Sutton, Canton; Robert Taylor, Holbrook.

Electrical: Timothy Walsh, Canton; Matthew Bonner, Norwood; Aidan McFadden, Holbrook.

Early Education and Care: Qalah Hendricks, Randolph; Emily Faherty, Holbrook; Brianna Lynch, Dedham; Kaitlyn Cahill, Braintree; Kaylie Silva, Canton.   

Engineering:  Aidan Flaherty, Braintree; Joseph Grieco, Abington; Devlin Young, Randolph; Mya Leitao, Dedham; Stenley Simon, Randolph.