STEAM
Learning goes full STEAM ahead
At Paideia, STEAM — Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math — is infused throughout the curriculum, enhancing skills that always have been core strengths of our students: innovative thinking, problem solving and creativity.
“STEAM connects to the culture of the school,” says STEAM Coordinator Dave Fergemann, who adds: “That ‘A’ in STEAM speaks volumes here because, no matter the discipline or class, we reinforce students’ creativity and ability to solve problems with real-world solutions.”
STEAM rose early at Paideia
Before STEAM’s arrival at other schools, Paideia had put its principles into practice through its Urban Agriculture program, which began in 2010. Evolving by leaps and bounds, including the establishment of Pi Farm in 2019, Urban Agriculture demonstrated the fruits of cross-disciplinary work by faculty and now involves the entire student body as well as benefitting the local community.
Firing student imaginations
More impactful for being an integrated curricular element at Paideia, STEAM is too foundational to be hived off in a separate class. Just ask the 7th-grade members of the history class Ancient Technology how they got “STEAMed” recently.
Building working models of ancient technology — including an aqueduct — students paired them with presentations on how that technology advanced civilization. In making their models, they got introduced to tools such as 3D printing and laser cutting.
From crayons to robotics: tools and spaces bringing ideas to life
Four principal areas on campus are dedicated to STEAM projects — spaces deliberately designed to accommodate the program’s growth over time.
Each moment of innovation in these spaces reinforces the universal joy of making things — of converting what we see in our mind’s eye to something we can hold. As more students take the plunge, it triggers healthy competition to go even further exploring the potential of these tools.
![GSHA Basketball Championships]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1749579519/paideia/oxq5i5voxywbnceus1f1/steam_elem_makerspace.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1749579519/paideia/oxq5i5voxywbnceus1f1/steam_elem_makerspace.jpg","width":500}])
Elementary makerspace
An Elementary makerspace opened up this year. Students at this level are still developing fine motor skills, so making things with their hands is advisable, and the space reflects this emphasis.
![GSHA Basketball Championships]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1749579570/paideia/pgfjb1qbty09u0yktv7t/steam_JH_space.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1749579570/paideia/pgfjb1qbty09u0yktv7t/steam_JH_space.jpg","width":500}])
Junior High
The Junior High has two labs, one for building things by hand that contains arts and crafts supplies. The other lab — more of a high-tech makerspace — features 3D printers, laser cutters and Cricut machines.
![GSHA Basketball Championships]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1749579628/paideia/ejnmn66v5ksb3r0neeue/Steam_robotics.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1749579628/paideia/ejnmn66v5ksb3r0neeue/Steam_robotics.jpg","width":500}])
High School
The Oakdale Hall STEAM areas see a variety of uses related to robotics, woodworking and power tools. A Short-term class recently used the space to design board games.
Faculty are all-in
Each faculty member’s journey to embracing STEAM as a powerful teaching tool is different, but every turn in that direction reflects Paideia’s enduring commitment to honor the scholarly interests of faculty and their continuing evolution.
While he is an expert in a variety of subjects, Fergemann describes a particular spark when he began teaching robotics and computer science.
“I was really connecting with students in those classes. They were coming up with, and carrying out, amazing projects that made everyone’s learning so much richer than a traditional class with me up front presenting material.”
His fellow teachers feel that same freedom and responsibility to turn new corners. And as they embrace STEAM, they have plenty of guidance from iLe@p, Paideia’s in-house team of learning specialists. Among their innovations is “Programming Playground,” which allows students access to makerspace during recess, where they can work on a class project or create something on their own.
Doing STEAM differently
Cutting-edge tools and spaces power Paideia’s STEAM program, but the true value lies in the philosophy behind it — showing students how to dig deep, innovate and take risks.
Unlike offerings elsewhere, Paideia’s STEAM program transports students forward and back in time, acknowledging that worthwhile learning happens in both directions. Thus, Paideia students lead area peers in robotics while other classmates master fiber arts or recreate a healing salve first made a thousand years ago.
“You cannot design something for a 3D printer if you don’t have a spatial awareness of the object, which only comes from making it by hand,” Fergemann notes, which is why faculty ensure that students step into STEAM in the right phased way and that they do so with originality and serious thought — not 3D-printing something seen online but remixing it, giving themselves and the world something new.