After-school STEM Club Fuels Exploration

This elementary school teacher's after-school STEM club creates a space where students can explore coding, engineering, science experiments, and more...because they want to.

Staying After School for STEM

Every other Thursday, after the final bell rings, Tammy Sila opens the door for twenty or more students who stay after school for STEM club. For these students, mostly grades 4-6, STEM club is an exciting chance to get hands-on with science beyond the classroom. Students come to STEM club to explore engineering and coding and experiment with science concepts in ways that may not be possible in the classroom or at home.

Tammy teaches 4th grade at Whiting Elementary School in Whiting, Iowa, and runs the after-school STEM club. Last year, Tammy turned to Science Buddies for new ideas she could use with the club. "It was only my second year of STEM club. I was still trying to get it organized and find things that keep the kids interested."

She had students use the Topic Selection Wizard to locate projects of interest. "This gave them ownership over the project. They were able to find something they were really interested in, rather than something that was assigned to them."

Using filters on the site, Tammy helped students select projects that used readily available materials. When possible, they chose activities that used the supplies in a STEAM cart that was donated to the club.

Tammy aims to offer a range of opportunities to spark and sustain interest in STEM. In addition to the independent projects students work on (often in groups), she has started introducing coding using Scratch. Last year, they also did introductory circuit-building projects like making potato batteries.

Tammy's STEM club also participated in the 2024 Rubber Band Car Engineering Challenge. Club members were not required to build a car, but several students took the challenge, including a group of girls who were new to STEM club. "I had nine girls that joined STEM club this year. They had never done hands-on anything. They brought materials from home and put their car together at school. They got into the building and really enjoyed it!"

"We need to make sure students get involved before they don't think it's cool," says Tammy, noting that she sees a difference in how engaged students are when they start STEM club in fourth grade compared to sixth.

Above: Some students in the after-school club built rubber band cars for the 2024 Engineering Challenge.

Connecting Personal Interests with STEM Careers

In her fourth-grade classroom, Tammy uses the Career Discovery Tool to introduce STEM careers. "Our community is based around agriculture," she explains. "Students think they will either be a housewife or a farmer." She hopes that using the Career Discovery Tool will give them new ways to think about the future.

Already she has seen the power of STEM career exploration in elementary school and has seen students make the connection between things they enjoy and possible career paths, the moment when "they realize, 'I like this, and there might be a career that's related.'"

Tammy knows that personal interest is a key factor. As an example, she shares a story of one of her fourth-grade class students who had behavioral problems and was disinterested in school. As a result of STEM club, he started exploring coding and design work. His school attendance improved, and he had the opportunity to go to a special event for visual creators. "He didn't realize [graphic design] was a career until we used the Career Discovery Tool in class, and then he realized, 'Hey, I can get paid to do this.'"

Free Resources Help Keep After-school Club Going

For Tammy, the availability of free resources at Science Buddies has helped make her school's STEM club sustainable.

"If it wasn't for Science Buddies, we wouldn't have continued STEM club," says Tammy. "I wasn't getting support for resources and what to do with them. Someone recommended Science Buddies to me, and it has basically everything I had been trying to do on my own."

Thank you to Tammy for sharing this story with Science Buddies. If you have a story about how Science Buddies makes a difference in your classroom or program, reach out to us at [email protected].