The fall 2022 STEAM Blast at Northwest Vista College was held Nov 8 and 9 and was supported through the Student Life Student Activities Fund.
NVC has interdisciplinary interactive sessions on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). Many sessions are focused on creation and crafting in support of our STEAM Makerspace in MLH-214 (partially funded through multiple Alamo Colleges Innovation Grants and the Plus+STEM Department of Education Grant).
The Scavenger Hunt helps students identify labs and student support resources on campus that they may have missed while NVC was remote. There are multiple round-table question and answer sessions on engineering and science transfer/careers (with UTSA, St. Mary’s University, TAMU-Kingsville, and Texas State University as well as a session hosted by Dr. Martha Trevino on Paid Internships).
Arts, Dance, and Ceramics all hosted interactive sessions (Choreography, Button Crafting, Printmaking, Silk-Screening, and Ballet) with students. Game Design has a Gaming and E-Sports followed by Game Design student project presentation and play testing.
Science hosts sessions on Science Careers and Grants and Fun with Chemistry where students can see themselves in STEM careers. Math hosts sessions on their MIM program as well as applied math in Fun with Fractions. NVC engineering students also present their mid-semester projects. The NVC STEAM Makerspace hosts an all-day open house, where students can experience working in the creative space. Students who attend sessions entered into a drawing for financial awards. Please see the attached schedule for more information.
Next up is planning for the spring 2023 STEAM Blast for Feb 28 through March 2 and faculty and staff are encouraged to participate and help host sessions and Scavenger Hunt stops. Contact Thomas Pressly (tpressly@alamo.edu) for more information .
Special Thanks!
The STEAM committee would like to convey appreciation to Dr. Daniel Powell, vice president of Academic Success; and deans for Academic Success – Dr. Russ Frohardt, Dr. Bobby Ayala, and Pat Fontenot for their support of STEAM Blast each semester. STEAM Blast would also not be possible without the help of Career and Experiential Learning Team: Abreetta Bonner, Rachel Leal (project lead for STEAM Blast), Kari McKay, and Brenda Simpson.
A big Thanks also to Dr. Thomas Pressly for organizing the two-day event and his phenomenal leadership in planning STEAM-Blast. This is an outstanding demonstration of teamwork and how faculty and staff at NVC care about students and their academic success beyond the classroom.
