SHINE of Luzerne County at Wilkes University Students Compete in STEM Olympiad on May 11
Wilkes-Barre, PA (05/07/2019) — Students enrolled in SHINE of Luzerne County at Wilkes University will cap their year by competing in a STEM Olympiad on May 11. Challenges at the event will build on skills learned in the STEAM curriculum the students have worked with during the school year at the after-school centers. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Wilkes University's Arnaud C. Marts Center, 292 S Franklin St, Wilkes-Barre.
The students in grades 1-8 will participate in several STEM-based challenges between 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. including an egg drop, robotics and coding challenge, rain gutter regatta and a catapult challenge. Students will participate in teams competing in events designed to promote the 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, flexibility and leadership. Following the conclusion of the events, an award ceremony will be held.
STEM Olympiad events will be judged by celebrity judges including:
- Kristina Shalhoup, WBRE weekend weather anchor and reporter
- Rhonda Rabbitt, dean of the School of Education at Wilkes University
- Robert Taylor, faculty of practice and chair of engineering at Wilkes University
- Matthew Nicholas, mechanical engineer with Power Engineering
All students attending will be entered in a drawing for a Nintendo Switch along with other donated prizes.
The event is made possible by community sponsorships. The following businesses and organizations are supporting the Olympiad:
- Gold Sponsor: Community Bank
- Silver Sponsors: The Luzerne Foundation, State Sen. John T. Yudichak, Greater Hazleton Can Do, Nicholas Trucking, Wilkes University, J.H. Williams & Co., LLP, United Way of Wyoming Valley, Motor Transportation, Unico and Kazimierz Pulaski Club
- Bronze Sponsors: Attorney Allan Kluger and Sue Kluger, Wilkes University Senior Vice President and Provost Anne Skleder, Children's Service Center
- And other sponsors: Herr's, Dairy Queen, The Grill, Marquis Art and Frame, Sky Zone, Movies14, Josie's Italian Ice, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, Gerrity's Supermarkets and Donut Connection, Exeter.
SHINE of Luzerne County at Wilkes University serves students in six centers. SHINE, which stands for Schools and Homes In Education, is offered four days a week and uses a project-based STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) curriculum to kindle excitement about learning. School districts served by the program are Hanover Area, Hazleton Area, Greater Nanticoke Area, Wilkes-Barre Area and Wyoming Valley West.
For more stories about Wilkes University and its students, faculty and staff, please visit News@Wilkes.
About Wilkes University:
Wilkes University is a private, independent, non-sectarian institution of higher education dedicated to academic and intellectual excellence through mentoring in the liberal arts, sciences and professional programs. Founded in 1933, Wilkes is on a mission to create one of the nation's finest doctoral universities, offering all of the programs, activities and opportunities of a large university in the intimate, caring and mentoring environment of a small college, open to all who show promise. The Economist named Wilkes 25th in the nation for the value of its education for graduates. In addition to 46 majors, Wilkes offers 24 master's degree programs and five doctoral/terminal degree programs, including the doctor of philosophy in nursing, doctor of nursing practice, doctor of education, doctor of pharmacy, and master of fine arts in creative writing. Learn more at www.wilkes.edu.
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