Hundreds of students, parents, and staff from all 18 Merced City School District campuses came together Thursday evening for the fourth annual STEAM Fair. It was held at the district’s new cutting edge STEAM Center, which opened in August next to Ada Givens Elementary.
This event was a chance for the schools to showcase work done throughout the year in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. It featured a variety of interactive student displays, performances by school bands, a solar car station, and an educational drum circle facilitated by special guest presenter, Dr. Craig Woodson.
Community partners from UC Merced, Mercy Medical Center Merced, the City of Merced, and Castle Air museum also set up booths with hands-on activities, from science experiments to CPR training. It was an opportunity for students to see how professionals in our community use STEAM every day. Children also had a chance to meet JiJi the ST Math penguin, which is the mascot for a computer program they frequently use in the classroom.
The Merced City School District is home to an award-winning STEAM program that combines daily classroom curriculum with educational excursions and visits to the STEAM Center. The facility provides a 21st century space for all of the district’s TK-8th grade students to enjoy collaborative, hands-on learning. It also allows groups of teachers to work together and learn from one another, and it provides a place for additional community collaboration and special events, including the STEAM Fair.
Students from five Merced area middle schools went head to head in the inaugural “Merced City School District Battle of the Books Invitational” at Tenaya Middle School on Friday, April 20.
The competitors came from four MCSD schools: Cruickshank, Hoover, Rivera, and Tenaya as well as McSwain Middle School. Multiple teams from each school competed throughout the day in a literary competition that focused on 10 novels they read in advance.
The titles included such works as, “A Ring of Endless Light” by Madeleine L’Engle, “Bud, Not Buddy” by Christopher Paul Curtis, and “On the Far Side of the Mountain” by Jane Craighead George. The questions required the students to remember specific details from each story.
The day began with four rounds of competition in classrooms throughout the campus before students came together in the multipurpose room to hear the results.
Rivera students Julia Nies, Elena Santos-Gonzalez, Tianna LiWang, and Kaylie Escobar-Islas earned a perfect score to take first place in the small group contest. The girls also helped Rivera win an exciting rapid fire tiebreaker against Hoover to claim the trophy for the most overall points for their school.
MCSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Paula Heupel says, “It was thrilling to see all of the students so excited and knowledgeable about literature. The teacher librarians from each of the participating schools did a tremendous job of organizing this inaugural event, and we look forward to the continued success of this competition in the future.”
The Merced City School District would also like to acknowledge and thank all of the staff members and volunteers from our district and others who helped make this opportunity possible, beginning with MCSD teacher librarians Maria Dietz, Rhonda Sancibrian, Seanna Haslouer, Joette Klemin, and McSwain librarian Ronda Douglas. They did an exceptional job of planning and running this event together. Also a special thanks to MCSD elementary teacher librarians Pang Moua, Diane Pust, Angelica Ozuna, and Nikki Kline as well as Susan Mikkelson (Merced High School teacher librarian), Allyssa Sepulveda (Delhi High School coordinator of library and digital media services), Travis Harding (Atwater High School teacher librarian), Tara Woodall (Golden Valley High School teacher librarian), Julie Cook (Buhach Colony High School teacher librarian), Tony Doyle (El Capitan High School teacher librarian), Jil Borden (Livingston Middle School library media teacher), Danny Ambriz (MCSD Information Technology application specialist), and college student Noelle Haycraft. They all offered support in a variety of ways, from serving as moderators to running the technical components. We appreciate you all!
The Merced City School District is excited to partner with Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center for a new "Hello Humankindness Student Ambassador" program. Each month, we will be featuring students from one of our schools who go above and beyond to spread kindness on their campus and in our community. The students will also receive some special items from Dignity Health as recognition for their commitment to kindness.
The first students selected for this honor are from Burbank Elementary. You can watch their story here:
The Merced City School District's top-rated preschool program was recently featured on KSEE24 News.
This video explains why it's so important to apply early for preschool.
You can also find much more information about our preschool program by clicking this link:
Students, staff, parents, and community members are invited to the 4th annual Merced City School District STEAM Fair on Thursday, May 17 from 4-6 p.m. Please see the flyer below for more details:
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