STEAM gains traction

The second STEAM Social of the year drew more than 150 people to Greentown Labs to network, share ideas, and learn about STEAM-related programs available in Somerville. The March 31st event included a variety of partners sharing information about their programs including: Somerville Math Fund, CoderDojo, Parts & Crafts, Cambridge Science Festival, Sculpture Racing, Space Park, Argenziano School Future Cities Project, Kennedy Makerspace/Lesley STEAM, Somerville High School (SHS) FIRST Robotics, Grove Education at Argenziano and the Winter Hill Community Innovation Schools, cuSTEMized, Somerville Arts for Youth, Somerville Public Schools (SPS) STEM Volunteer Opportunities and  Somerville New High School. At the end of the public sharing portion of the evening, School Committee members attending the event, along with the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Schools joined the fun and talked about the new Somerville Technology Advisory Group to the School Committee, which will be organized after April vacation. 

Originally started by the Argenziano School PTA’s STEM Committee, which was formed last spring, the idea of a social gathering to bring together people interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, began in January and has quickly evolved into a forum for interested partners from across the city – individuals and organizations – to connect and collaborate on STEAM-related conversations and programs. The evolution has included the creation of S^3 (Somerville Steam Social), a group comprised of like-minded STEAM advocates and open to anyone interested in helping lead this conversation, and the launch of the Somerville STEAM Clearinghouse, an online tool to inventory and publicize STEAM programs. Interested parties are encouraged to visit the site and contribute additional STEAM activities through the online form.

The first STEAM Social was sponsored by Grove Labs, a start-up green tech company at Greentown Labs, on January 11. Read here to learn more about the most recent STEAM social. Stay tuned for future school-based STEAM meet-ups and a community-wide spring outdoor event.