Science, technology and more at Norman J. Levy Lakeside School

Students at Norman J. Levy Lakeside School could hardly contain their excitement for the Merrick Union Free School District’s annual “STEAM Day,” which returned in full blast on March 17.

STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math, and throughout the day, students in every grade at Lakeside took part in fun activities geared towards these topics.

Melissa Robinson, Lakeside’s science coordinator, a STEAM coach and sixth grade teacher, said the district began hosting the annual science-driven day about five years ago, but the coronavirus pandemic prevented one from being held in 2020 and 2021.

A modified event took place last year, and this was the first year they were able to resume hosting all normal activities, which incorporated fun, student-driven lessons as well as an assembly by Mad Science of Long Island for all grades to enjoy.

Each elementary school in Merrick, including Birch and Chatterton Schools, will have a STEAM Day at some point this school year as well.

The day was coordinated by Robinson and fellow STEAM coaches, Kelly Larson, Ruth Rosenberg, Shari Dorfman, Randi Walsh and Victoria Ryan. During the school year, they run 30-week long STEAM clubs for students in forth-, 5th- and 6th-grade. At club meetings, they tackle different, unique themes like avalanches and myth busters, just to name a few. On STEAM Day, the older students in these clubs led instructional science booths, where every grade popped by to learn something new.

“It was unbelievable,” Robinson said of the students. “We had 13 booths that the kids ran.”

In addition to the STEAM coaches coordinating the day’s events, technology teacher Keri Sabella, Apex instructor Jamie Kanner and library teacher Melissa Levine also incorporated fun, technology instruction into the day. Lakeside’s art teacher Maggi Raadsen-Coviello designed a project that each class collaborated on as well — making STEAM Day a truly, school-wide event.

Aside from the science booths, the kids also watched an awesome presentation by Mad Science of Long Island, Robinson said. And in their classrooms, the older grades even got to put their riddle solving skills to the test. Following a set of clues and instructions, they took part in a makeshift escape room, and together, had to figure out a way “out.” 

STEAM Day is something that kids look forward to year after year, Robinson said, and the district’s technology team is happy to bring it back and make it happen.

“All we heard in the hallway from the kids was ‘Please don’t let STEAM Day end,’” she said. “All these little kids, with these smiling faces — they build together, they were exploring, they were working together. It was such a nice day to see all of these happy faces having fun together.”