Forest Oak at the USA Science & Engineering Festival 2014

     Forest Oak Middle School had the opportunity this year to participate in the annual USA Science and Engineering Festival. The festival featured many different science and engineering exhibitions that were geared toward people of all ages. The event was sponsored by several organizations, including NSF, the National Institute of Health (NIH), and NASA. The festival was founded and presented by Lockheed Martin.

     Forest Oak has been focusing more towards the STEM departments of their school and has been trying to spread the ideas of STEM to all aspects of the classroom for the past couple of years. Earlier this year, the school received an email from Project Lead the Way (PLTW), an organization that FOMS had worked with in the past, asking if they had any exhibit proposals they would like to submit for the USA Science and Engineering Festival.

      Mr. Randall Grove, the technology and engineering teacher at Forest Oak, and his students worked on a proposal to give in to Project Lead the Way for approval. They designed a challenge of creating a cable car to race down a zip line. Their exhibit proposal was approved in March and the group began preparations for the festival.

     Students who had worked on the proposal were required to attend the festival’s Sneak Peak Friday, where they had a chance to present their project to the thousands of people who attended the event. By presenting their ideas, students were able to experience what it would be like to have a job in the STEM field and participate as professionals in large events similar to the festival. “I believe that the opportunity to present also gave students a chance to see others presenting at the festival and the realization that Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math can be a lot of fun, rewarding, and could be a place where they could possibly one day have a career, have fun in what they do, and make a lot of money,” said Grove.

      Students worked for long hours during the festival. “We met at school at 7:00 every day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then took the Metro down to Washington DC,” said Grove. Most students didn’t return home until eight in the evening. But they were given lunch breaks and other breaks throughout the day that let them explore more exhibits during the festival. “Students were terrific and represented Forest Oak Middle School and will hopefully shine a light on the great things being done as part of our STEM program,” said Grove.

      Forest Oak hopes to encourage more students at their school to participate in their STEM programs, and get them more interested in the field of science and engineering. “My hope is that students will share their stories and be able to excite other students to become interested in STEM related fields,” said Grove.

      The festival proved to be an enlightening experience for all the students who volunteered at the school’s booth. They were able to meet real scientists and other professionals, and get an idea of what it would be like to have similar careers as the people they met. “I believe students have gained a great knowledge of what it takes to present at a large festival and the difference that they can make in other’s lives just by being positive and working together to find a solution,” said Grove.