Recently, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) classes went through the process of preparing for the district’s STEAM evaluation, in which Krop was evaluated on its program in those fields.

Throughout the school year, teachers in these fields completed projects incorporating all aspects of the acronym and displayed them in their rooms. Schools can receive either a bronze, silver or gold designation from the district, and designations are released in July.

Some of these projects can be found in Biology Teacher Lolithia Otero’s class, including one in which students used utensils and different food items to determine which would serve as the best bird beak, simulating the processes of natural selection and evolution.

In Chemistry Teacher Eden Assraf’s classes, students used vinegar, baking soda, and the properties of acid-base chemical reactions to launch water bottle rockets.Students also built molecule diagrams out of styrofoam and clay sticks to illustrate the different VSEPR geometries, or the way certain molecules are designed, of specific molecules.

In Anatomy Teacher Lisa Berner’s classes, students used common household items to create models of organs.

However, the projects have not been limited to just science classes, with math and CTE (Career Technical Education) teachers participating as well. In Monica Nartey’s Gaming class, students designed a scene in Unity, a game development engine. Unity incorporates many Physics properties into their game engine, and students had to use them in designing the scene.

In Math Teacher Michael Storper’s Algebra 1 classes, students attempted to build cars that would be able to travel at least 15 feet, before recording the time and distance traveled by each car in different trials and determining the line of best fit for these trials. Students also found the average distance traveled by the car over the different trials and the different spreads of data, or how far the distances in each trial were from said average distance.

Previously unranked, Krop received a silver designation last year, only a few points off from gold, with many hoping to receive gold after this year’s classroom visits.

“It was nice to reflect on all the things we’ve done as a school,” Otero said. “Science teachers know what science teachers do and math teachers know what math teachers do, but it was cool to be able to see what other teachers, like our photography and dance teacher, have done for STEAM. It was great to have the opportunity to visit teachers and see what they’re doing in their classrooms.”