Newton North High School hosted a STEM Night on Saturday, April 11, inviting students and families from across Newton to explore the school’s wide range of science, technology, engineering and math opportunities.
The event, held from 4PM to 6:30PM in the school cafeteria, aimed to connect younger students in the Newton community with STEM opportunities at the high school level.
“The main motivation behind this event was to introduce middle schoolers and younger high schoolers to STEM opportunities here,” junior Sophia Li, president of Science Team and one of the event’s organizers, told Fig City News.
Booths representing a variety of clubs—including Science Team, Math Team, Math Modeling, Data Science Competition, Exploring Neuroscience Club, Space Club and LigerBots robotics—lined the cafeteria, each offering interactive activities and demonstrations. Science Team includes several specialized groups that compete in subject-specific events: Science Olympiad, Biology Team, Physics Team, and Chemistry Team.
At the biology station, students guided visitors through extracting strawberry DNA, while other booths featured games, experiments, and hands-on challenges.
At a computer science display, students demonstrated an invention designed to assist people with visual impairments by using vibrations to detect distance.
“Instead of a walking stick, you could figure out how far something is through vibrations,” said junior Emma Sukosolvisit, who is involved in Science Olympiad.
Other groups focused on experiments that allowed participants to test concepts in real time. The Exploring Neuroscience Club invited visitors to complete a cup-stacking activity under different conditions to measure the effects of stress on performance.
“Most people actually performed better under pressure, which showed us that stress can increase your function,” said co-president Anvita Venkatesh, a senior.
Li said that the event was intended to provide a more focused experience than traditional club fairs.
“Club fairs at North are all very dispersed, and students don’t actually get much time to spend at each club,” Li said.
The LigerBots robotics team, incorporating both Newton North and South, showcased a range of student projects, including a drone, a 3D printer, and a hands-on station where visitors could build small robots while learning basic circuitry.
While the event highlighted the school’s extensive STEM offerings, organizers emphasized that it was largely driven by students.
“It’s predominantly been student-run,” said Beth Hobbs, a Math Team co-advisor and administrative assistant at Newton North. “I’ve just been supporting them and helping them get the permit and everything.”
With more than 2,000 students and numerous STEM-focused clubs, Newton North offers a wide range of opportunities for students interested in the field.
“A big part of the goal is to reach middle school students and introduce them to STEM and the opportunities they’ll have in high school,” Hobbs said.
The evening concluded with a STEM trivia session, followed by brief presentations and Q&A sessions from participating clubs.
Li added that organizers hope to make the event an annual tradition so students can look forward to attending in future years.
Annalise Vito is a Fig City News student reporter, a senior at Newton North HS, and former co-Editor in Chief of the Newtonite.
