Laughter and excitement abounded at the STEM Community Night on May 30 at Highwood Hills Elementary, a public community school on St. Paul’s East Side. These happy voices belonged to students, families, school staff, and community partners participating in numerous fun, hands-on STEM activities. The event is an end-of-the-school-year tradition for the school, which houses a unique Polytechnic Program with lessons in technology, engineering and agriculture.

The student-designed logos of Highwood Hills’ Polytechnic Program are on display at the school.

The Polytechnic Program at Highwood Hills began in response to feedback from the school’s families, 97% of whom are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Principal Fatima Lawson and the school’s leadership team developed the program to focus on careers and skills that families identified as important. Dr. Lawson received the 2024 National Distinguished Principal Award presented by the National Association of Elementary School Principals in recognition of her excellent work at Highwood Hills, including the implementation of the Polytechnic Program.

Scenes from the STEM Community Night

At the STEM Community Night, the success of this program was on full display. Carolyn Chisholm, the school’s Polytechnic Program coordinator, has cultivated partnerships with many organizations in the Twin Cities’ flourishing nonprofit, arts, and STEM communities. Students and their families engineered a city from clay with Now.Make.Art., created seed balls and took home vegetable starts thanks to Youth Farm, and worked with representatives from Science From Scientists on a fun color experiment. The University of Minnesota Mechanical Engineering Ambassadors and Free Geek offered demonstrations and information about 3D printing and electronics recycling.

Representatives from the FORSE program worked with attendees to make buttons representing the three tracks of the school’s Polytechnic Program.

Reflecting the importance of the three tracks - technology, engineering and agriculture - in the school’s Polytechnic Program, the Fostering Relationships and Opportunities in STEM Education (FORSE) program worked with attendees to create buttons displaying student-designed logos of each track. “A student who illustrated one of the logo designs was thrilled to see their work being made into a button at the event,” said FORSE program manager Evangeline Holley. “Involvement in designing the Polytechnic Program logos is just one of many examples of how educators and students work together to make the school such a vibrant and successful learning community.”

Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, FORSE - a program of the Minnesota Academy of Science - has partnered with Highwood Hills to bring science and technology opportunities to the school’s students. Activities included robotics demonstrations from the St. Paul Central High School MinuteBots Robotics Team and the University of Minnesota Lunabotics Team; a 3D printing project for each grade; and STEM play days full of hands-on science fun for younger students. 

The spring STEM Community night had a celebratory vibe, as students, educators, and families celebrated the year’s achievements. At the end of the event, students traded in their completed, stamped ‘passports’ for a prize bag provided by the FORSE program, which featured a coloring book from Twin Cities author and cybersecurity expert Zenet Kemal. “Each year, I look forward to this event that celebrates not just STEM learning, but also this special community,” said Holley. “I can’t wait to come back next year!”