On February 8, 2019, in the school gymnasium, Hubbard High hosted its annual S.T.E.A.M. festival, where students participate in various activities that engage their critical learning skills. Some of these activities include: Paper Roller Coasters, Bridge-Building, Egg Drop, Barbie Bungee, Origami, and Trebuchet. This year, Art was brought into the program, as the program was previously names S.T.E.M. which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. High School art teacher Mr. Josh Macmillan brought new activities to the festival, such as Paint Pouring and Optical Art Drawing. There are many options to choose from, and students often spend the entire day participating and observing the event.

Barbie Bungee was another new activity this year, run by Mrs. Angela Walsh. In this challenge, students must tie numerous rubber bands to a Barbie Doll’s feet, and plunge her off the side of the bleachers. The goal is to get Barbie as close to the ground as possible before she jumps back up. This winners in this competition were Sophomores Alex Phillips, Theresa Garcia, and Abby White; while second place was awarded to Jovanni Scachetti and Brayden Sawaska.

One of the most popular activities in the event is the Paper Roller coaster. All students are encouraged to participate. Mrs. Jessie Jones-Canter was in charge of this area and organized the activity well, as every group was split up to their own table, where they’d find stacks of different types of paper, tape, and scissors. The objective of the Paper Roller Coaster Competition is to make not only the strongest, but the longest-running roller coaster with the least amount of paper as possible. When asked why she chose to participate in this activity, sophomore Katie Stinson replied, “I did it last year and thought it was an extremely fun challenge.” The Best Overall Coaster winners of 2019 were Gracie Bencetic, Lena Dunkerly, Angelina Eusanio, and Harley Senek.

Although this activity of the fest is only available to upperclassmen, Bridge Building is another popular event. Participating students go to multiple meetings beforehand, lasting about 2 hours per meeting. Here, groups build models of their bridge to prepare for the big day. The bridge is supposed to hold as much weight as possible before breaking. This year, the heaviest weight sustained was 54 lbs. Josie Wagner, Megan Long, and Julia Charles were the creators of this bridge. Josie explained how coming up with the design was challenging at first, as they went through various ideas and models. “It feels really good to win because our group worked so hard,” says Wagner. On February 25, 2019, the group will continue on to Youngstown State University’s S.T.E.A.M. Festival and compete with the winners of other schools. In 2nd place, Dom Cheffo, Lexi Flower, and Tommy Wess had a bridge that lasted up to 50 lbs. The group said they went with a “Simple Scalene Triangle” design, and were very excited be awarded second place.  

The school’s own Robotics Team had a few little setups of their own in the Festival. In charge of “Square Bubbles” were freshman Jada Haden and Alex Bennett. Here, straws were connected into 3D cubes and dipped into soap. When taken out, bubbles were formed in the shape of a square. Sophomore Logan Stafford was head of the Paper Rockets. He said that “the challenge is fun, but it’s even better to watch people get so frustrated about making the rockets.”

All in all, the day came to an end and the winners were announced. Taylor Perline took part in the Art section of the festival, but stayed longer to look around because, “it’s so interesting to see the different, creative things people can come up with.” From putting an egg into a jar of peanut butter for the Egg Drop, to building a hot-pink trebuchet, possibilities are endless at the S.T.E.A.M. Festival. Who knows what exciting activities 2020’s S.T.E.A.M. Fest will feature?