Fifth period starts. Inside room 401 a group of seniors are working hard. When you walk in you can hear the typing of the keys, the clicking of the mice, and group discussions going on. This group of students are a part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.) Academy and are in their final year, tackling their biggest project ever.  

Each year of STEM Academy you focus on new topics. Staying till the last year is a feat that many don’t accomplish. Students work on Revit and Inventor, programs that work on 3D and 2D modeling, to create new projects and learn about the aspects of STEM.  

Introduction to engineering and Architecture (IDEA) is the first year. Civil engineering and architecture (CEA) is the second year. The third is engineering and architecture development or EAD. The last and final year is Capstone.  

“Capstone is a yearlong project through SMP, society of military professionals, where at the end of the year they present a project at Peter Kiewit Institute,” Teacher Mr. Dana Janssen said.  

Working on these projects can be stressful though. Each project has specific goals on what they want to create.  

“The goal is to design a prosthetic leg that grows with the person using it. My group includes; Abigail Saylor, Hailey Romaire, Elayna Boose and me. We all have a specific role. Mine is to research childhood muscle and bone development,” senior Renee Thompson said.  

There are so many other projects that students have done in the past and there is a lot to try to beat.  

“Projects vary from anywhere from school renovations, to abandoned warehouse renovations, to new developments, to green communities. Then also the last two that we had as winners was a new zoo edition, an Australian exhibit. And then our last year’s winner was a two-boat system that would clean up oil spills using antonymous boats and tandem.” Janssen said.  

Getting progressively harder each year, many don’t stay until the last year. Starting out with sixty students the number has fallen to thirteen. 

“I have staying in STEM Academy for all four years, because I feel like I am learning a lot about research and the difficult parts that go into engineering,” Thompson said.  

There are three projects that are going on this year. Many of which have a fair shot of winning.  

“We have three projects and one is top secret: can’t explain it. The other one is a prosthetic limb for a child, so the prosthetic limb grows with the child, so they don’t have to spend money every single time they have to have a new prosthetic. They’ll be two of them. One for when they are two to eight. And from eight to seventeen. And the other one is the locker room renovations that is going to be held at foundation field they are going to add on locker rooms, so our kids are coming up with the concept and design for that,” Janssen said.  

When looking back on the last four years, a senior can give helpful advice to the lower classmen in hopes to help them and prevent future mistakes.  

“My advice would be to pay attention to the little details in class and to work on communication skills throughout the year,” Thompson said.