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Broad Street librarian showcases STEM program, students demonstrate iterative problem-solving
Summary
At its March 10 meeting, the Mechanicsburg Area School District heard a Broad Street library presentation showing how an expanded STEM program uses coding, robotics and design challenges to teach resilience and collaboration to elementary students.
Heather Snyder, the new librarian at Broad Street Elementary, told the Mechanicsburg Area School District board on March 10 that the school’s library is increasingly integrating STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) into K–3 specials.
Snyder described curriculum development that began with a 2016–17 grant introducing robots and coding and has since incorporated state standards and library standards into regular lessons. "We focus on the STEM themes during our library time," she said, explaining lessons use an engineering 'idea–plan–try–create–improve' wheel to structure student work.
A video of student work shown to the board highlighted hands-on activities — paper-airplane challenges with distance and flight criteria, marble mazes, paper-chain engineering from a single sheet, unplugged coding exercises and introductory robotics. In student remarks shown on the video, a Broad Street third-grader described how teams "kept trying and trying" and emphasized perseverance when a design did not work on the first try. Another student said coding ‘‘lets you push it past the limits and see what else it can do,’’ reflecting curiosity and experimentation.
Principal Paul Bigum told the board the program is aligned to the district’s mission and that the presentation reflected a districtwide approach: students from multiple buildings participated in the materials shown. Board members praised the program’s emphasis on life skills — resilience, teamwork and creative problem-solving — and noted the librarian hire came out of last year’s budget to support additional specials time.
Administrators said the district intends to add STEM specials for fourth and fifth grades in upcoming years and previewed a budget request later this month to fund an additional art teacher as part of continued expansion of guaranteed specials across grade levels.
The presentation concluded with the board expressing appreciation for the work of library staff and volunteers. No formal action was required; the program will be part of the district’s ongoing curricular and budget discussions.
