The school partnered with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum to bring 20 different science, engineering, technology, and math activities to Center Line. Instructional Coach Marie Hedrick said the most popular station involved making homemade slime.
Other stations included popping off bottle caps using seltzer tablets, getting magnets to bounce, and digging for dinosaurs. Hedrick said incorporating STEM into a fun event was important.
Center Line Prep enjoyed a night of family fun with Family STEM Night.
“I love science, so getting them to go out and explore and do different activities was a big thing for us,” Hedrick said. “It was good to relate to everyday life, like at the magnet station. We were showing them the science behind magnets, and we related it to their everyday lives. That was important for me.”
Connecting these materials to familiar concepts wasn’t the only way Family STEM Night expanded education past the school’s walls. Family involvement was a crucial aspect of the event.
Family STEM Night was free to participate in and gave families an opportunity to bond. For parents, it was a chance to see their scholar show their academic skills. Hedrick said families were able to collaborate and be creative together.
Staff members from every grade level helped facilitate Family STEM Night.
“Parents were able to see their scholar color, interact with different objects, and people,” Hedrick said. “That was a huge takeaway. I attended with my two daughters, and it was fun to interact and embellish what they were already learning in class.”
Interactive family events like this one help scholars and their families relate, which is why Center Line has outperformed the local district since it opened in 2021.
Center Line teaches kindergarten through 12th grade, so Family STEM Night brought out a wide variety of ages. Hedrick said she even had two high-school students volunteer at some of the stations.
One Center Line Prep scholar and members of her family participate in a pizza-based fraction game.
Teachers and staff members were also happy to engage with students at Family STEM Night, helping facilitate each station, set up, and tear down.
“It was nice to be able to have an event for everyone to enjoy,” Hedrick said. “It was nice to have kindergarten teachers at one station, middle school teachers at others, and high school staff helping out, as well.”
Thanks to Marie and everyone at Center Line Prep for hosting this fun family event!
Check out a school near you!
About Center Line Preparatory Academy
Center Line Preparatory Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Center Line, Michigan, serving students in Young 5s through 12th grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
Visit Center Line Preparatory Academy's blog to read more stories like this.