With activities like “Homemade Ice Cream” and “Sink or Float,” it’s no wonder students and parents alike walked out of Mandel JDS happy and, more importantly, a little bit more educated.

Mandel JDS held their third annual STEM Fair, on Sunday, March 11. The concept of STEM (an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) took hold of the entire building as students and parents engaged in 16 different interactive, educational activities with an entire Early Childhood showcase as well.

The fair was held for early childhood all the way through second grade, and featured a variety of activities, each centered on at least one of the four tenets of STEM.  Activities included: growing greens, coding a computer program, creating and learning about simple machines, a homemade planetarium, and many more.

Students and parents were asked to come and partake in various activities around the building. To account for the varying ages of participants, each activity was denoted as either “everyone,” “young,” or “old” - although it’s important the note, the “old” category (2nd grade) did stop to have a Cheerio and juice box break during the excitement.

“For young learners, science is just an extension of their everyday world,” explained Leah Spector, Mandel JDS principal. “We don’t have to teach young children how to wonder, discover, and explore through play because they do it naturally. We see this STEM Fair as a perfect way to demonstrate that philosophy.”

The STEM Fair is just one of many new, technology-based initiatives taking place at the school. Open to the entire Jewish community, Mandel JDS enrolls more than 350 students, 18 months – 8th grade, from diverse Jewish backgrounds.