Photos:

TOP — Austen Johnson, Alex Hua, Justin Lutz and Rishi Simhadri, students in the Parkway School District Spark! Incubator program (The Cookie Lab)

BOTTOM — Cong Vo (Bayless High School), Holly Davis (Lindbergh High School) and Emir Husic (Affton High School) via the St. Louis CAPS (Wings & Seeds)

Images courtesy of S. M. Wilson & Co.

 

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – S. M. Wilson & Co. and STL Works have awarded $2,000 in prizes to two teams of Missouri high school students through the fifth annual SKILLED®awards program.

The awards competition challenges high school students to create a process, lesson, activity or product that engages students with science, technology, engineering, art and/or math (STEAM) to engage and inspire younger students. Sponsored in partnership with the Missouri School Board Association (MSBA) and STL Works, SKILLED Awards is open to Missouri and Illinois high schoolers.

SKILLED, S. M. Wilson’s Construction Career Education program, provides hands-on opportunities to integrate academic learning and focus on future employment in the A/E/C industry. The company established SKILLED in 2019 to inspire the future of construction.

“The SKILLED Awards program was created to drive engagement in STEAM education at an early age to prepare and inspire careers in construction and related fields,” says Amanda Bohnert, CPSM, S. M. Wilson’s chief marketing officer and founder of SKILLED. “By developing and implementing STEAM education that is fun, engaging and designed with each specific community in mind, we hope to create a lifelong love of learning and encourage students to pursue future opportunities in in-demand fields.”

AWARD WINNERS
This year’s SKILLED Missouri Awards Program winners are:

  • The Cookie Lab, created by Austen Johnson, Alex Hua, Justin Lutz and Rishi Simhadri, students in the Parkway School District Spark! Incubator program. The lesson uses baking to show that science and math are everywhere by demonstrating how even a small change in a recipe can change the outcome.
  • Wings & Seeds, created by Cong Vo (Bayless High School), Holly Davis (Lindbergh High School) and Emir Husic (Affton High School) via the St. Louis CAPS (Centers for Advanced Professional Studies) program’s Global Business & Entrepreneurship and Engineering & Technology Design and Development courses. In this hands-on activity, students plant their own Butterfly Weed Seeds to support the growth of butterflies, to spread awareness of the declining population of the species and teach them about the science behind the plant growth cycle and butterfly life cycle.

“The bigger goal of The Cookie Lab is to help students connect classroom learning to real life,” says The Cookie Lab team in its entry. “It shows students that STEAM isn’t distant or intimidating; it’s part of their daily lives. Once they see how these skills apply outside of class, they’re more likely to carry that interest forward.”

“Wings & Seeds was intended to give kids a way to help their community and environment throughout their lives…It teaches students [how to grow milkweed] and provides them with the materials to keep helping their community even after their direct involvement with Wings & Seeds is over,” says the Wings & Seeds team in their entry.

One member of Wings & Seeds says “I grew milkweed plants in class as a 3rd grader, and I’ve been able to continue helping my community by growing another plant each year. That’s exactly what we want every kid impacted by Wings & Seeds to be able to do.”