By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
Photographer: COURTESY
Team members from All Saints School in Sunrise put the finishing touches on their entry for the arts competition, a STEAM 2022-themed canvas. The middle school competition was hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas High School, May 21, 2022.
Photographer: COURTESY
Students from St. Gregory School in Plantation try to solve puzzles in order to exit the Escape Room, part of the STEAM Competition hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas High School, May 21, 2022.
Photographer: COURTESY
Team members from Nativity School in Hollywood are ready to compete in the math challenge portion of the STEAM Competition hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas High School, May 21, 2022.
FORT LAUDERDALE | Who knew science and math could be such fun?
Middle school students from eight local schools — seven of them Catholic — found out recently as they competed in St. Thomas Aquinas High School’s 2022 STEAM Competition. (STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math.)
The STEAM Competition is the modern embodiment of the high school’s annual Sister John Norton Math Competition. Two years ago, it became a STEM event, and this year art was added.
Sixth through eighth grade students competed May 21, 2022 as part of a school team as well as individually. They spent the morning solving math problems, figuring out science trivia, creating a STEAM-themed canvas and even getting out of an Escape Room.
Participating schools were: All Saints, Sunrise; Nativity, Hollywood; St. Anthony, Fort Lauderdale; St. Bonaventure and St. David, Davie; St. Gregory the Great, Plantation; St. Rose of Lima, Miami Shores; and St. Mark’s Episcopal, Fort Lauderdale.
During the team math competition, students were assigned seven problems to work on collectively, with points awarded for accuracy and speed. The time limit for solving each problem was four minutes.
Winners in the team math competition were: In Division A (seventh and eighth graders): St. Bonaventure, first place; St. Gregory, second place; St. David, third. In Division B (sixth and seventh graders): Nativity, first place; St. Mark’s Episcopal, second place; and St. Bonaventure, third place.
The science trivia event featured a series of questions with limited time for answers, with points awarded based on the number of correct answers. Those winners were: St. Mark’s Episcopal, first; St. Gregory, second; St. Bonaventure, third.
To exit the Escape Room, team members had to work collaboratively to discover clues, solve puzzles and accomplish tasks in a limited time. The winner was the team from St. Rose of Lima, who escaped in 21 minutes 6 seconds.
The art competition gave students three hours to complete a canvas illustrating or incorporation the theme “STEAM in 2022.” Those winners were: St. David, first; St. Mark’s Episcopal, second; and St. Gregory, third.
The individual math competition consisted of 25 multiple-choice questions on arithmetic, pre-algebra, geometry and numerical computational word problems, to be solved in 30 minutes.
The winners in Division A were: Gabriel Gavrilescu of St. Bonaventure, first place; Talia Grenier of Nativity, second place; and Victoria Kordos, also of Nativity, third place.
The winners in Division B were all from Nativity: Paul Davies, first place; Seth Nimblett, second place; and Nicholas Ortuno, third place.
Erin Williams directs the STEAM program at St. Thomas, and the event is put on by the high school’s mathematics, science and art departments, as well as students in the Mu Alpha Theta Math, Science, Technical and Art honor societies, and the Girls Who Code Club.
“It was wonderful to witness all of the children from other Catholic schools compete and have fun,” said Jane M. Spanich of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Theology Department. “It was a fantastic time of learning and engagement with teachers, parents, administrators, and, of course, the students.”
