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| Beautiful scenery like this awaits students in Yosemite National Park. |
By Chloe Johnson
STEMmersion is just around the corner. With only six weeks left until the school year ends, teachers are preparing for their STEMmersion courses. These courses are two-weeks of immersive study into subjects outside of regular school instruction. Students can participate in STEMmersion courses that are about topics ranging from cooking to engineering. This year, a new STEMmersion has been introduced. The Yosemite STEMmersion is where 25 middle schoolers and 25 high schoolers explore Yosemite National Park located in California for five days. The teachers accompanying the students during this STEMmersion are Mrs. Curran, the 7th grade wellness & fitness teacher; Ms. Lydy, the 7th and 8th grade science teacher; Ms. Murakami, the 6th grade STEM foundations and engineering teacher; Mr. Pant, the 9th grade American history teacher; and Mr. Slone, the technology coordinator. This is the first time DRSS students have traveled to Yosemite as a STEMmersion.
Before students leave for Yosemite, they will have two field trips and participate in team building exercises. Some of these exercises will teach students how to pack their day pack, suitcase, and the TSA rules for flying with luggage. The purpose of the field trips is to teach students about the geology and hiking opportunities in Dayton. According to Ms. Curran, “there is a campaign through the National Park Service called “Find Your Parks,” and we are trying to make that kind of connection between our local area and Yosemite.”
DRSS students will experience the educational program through the national parks which is called Nature Bridge. According to Ms. Curran, “Nature Bridge has different programs that they offer in different national parks. In our trip to Yosemite, we are doing geology, water shed, climate change, ecology, and human history.” Before embarking on their journey through Yosemite with “its dramatic waterfalls, giant sequoias, abundant wildlife, and awe-inspiring cliffs,” according to Yosemite’s official website, the group will be flying into San Francisco. The students will spend the night in San Francisco and part of the next day. Then, it is a three and a half hour bus ride from San Francisco to Yosemite. In San Francisco, the students will be doing more sightseeing and not specific educational programming.
According to Ms. Curran, “I am most looking forward to the hiking in Yosemite just because I have never been to Yosemite or any of the National Parks out west.” Also, Ms. Curran hinted that the springtime is the best season to see the waterfalls because of all the snow packs melting. On the other hand, junior, Kyle Campbell said, “I am most looking forward to when it is nice and quiet to just listen to the animals.” In the interview, Ms. Curran also talked about what she believed students could look forward to during this STEMmersion. “I think it’s going to be the absolute natural beauty of a national park of that scope and size because it’s not something that we can replicate here in Ohio at all. I also hope that kids find that they can push themselves to do things that they never really thought were possible in terms of hiking and sleeping in platform tents that don’t have electricity or places to plug their phones in.” She hopes that students will be able to disconnect from modern technology and really find themselves in peace and quiet. Kyle Campbell stated, “I am mostly excited for the experience and learning more about nature.”
The educational program, Nature Bridge, will focus on climate change and its impact on the parks, the geology of Yosemite, ecology (different flora and fauna), and water shed. This is a really science based STEMmersion. The educational section of this STEMmersion will be taken care of by Nature Bridge. For exhibition night, students in this course will be showing off displays related to the concept “Find Your Parks.” The displays could focus on connections between Yosemite and Ohio parks, things they learned about themselves or parks. The students will even have the opportunity to use the Go Pros to take in depth pictures and videos of Yosemite. Ms. Curran stated, “Hope for good weather. The temperature will change during the day. It will be cool in the mornings.” The Yosemite STEMmersion will definitely be an interesting course where students will be exploring the beauty of nature.
