5th Grade STEM Day - Sponsored by Optimum

Posted Date: 12/18/2023

Harmony Grove Middle School fifth grade gifted and talented students joined with other students from Dawson co-op schools for Optimum STEM day on Friday. Working in cooperative teams with students from the other schools, teams designed 20 unique, working roller coasters.  Optimum awarded a $500 grant to pay for all the supplies, snacks (twisty pretzels and Twizzlers), and prizes for the day. This is the fifth year Optimum has funded Dawson STEM days.   

Each team received a bag of identical supplies to build their roller coaster.  During judging, students explained their engineering design process and finished the day by testing out each others’ roller coasters. Three HGMS students were on winning teams: Aimslee Minner for Judge’s Spotlight-best overall in all categories, for her group’s Underwater Adventure, Clark Simmons, for his group’s Trailblazing Transformers (best use of resources) and Hayden Bray for Best theme, with his group’s “Crazy Cat Lady” roller coaster theme.