STEAM TEAM UPDATE

As the year comes to an end, the Booster Board wants to take a moment to celebrate everything our STEAM Team has accomplished. This year was full of curiosity, creativity, and hands-on learning—and we’re so proud of the Team.

From exciting competitions and problem-solving challenges to teamwork and thoughtful questions, everyone showed what it means to think like an innovator and leader. They explored new ideas, learned from mistakes, and supported one another along the way. Most importantly, they had fun discovering how STEAM connects us to the world around us. It is a beautiful way to make good people through science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Thank you to the students for your enthusiasm and commitment and to their families and supporters for encouraging curiosity beyond the classroom and for volunteering at fundraisers, events and practices. Your support makes these opportunities possible.

We hope you enjoy a restful holiday season filled with joy, laughter, and maybe even a little scientific thinking! We can’t wait to return in the new year with more competitions and exciting projects ahead.

• Dec. 16 - Practice 3:00 - 5:00 (Choir Concert tonight)
• Dec. 19 - Practice 3:00-5:15pm (Goal setting and some cleanup)
• Dec 20- No Practice - Winter Break - Happy Holidays

• Next Practice - Tuesday, Jan 6th

FTC

The Tropic Bulls and the Flamma-Bulls competed in the 3rd FTC Qualifier last Saturday. They both worked hard and competed with confidence. The Flamma - Bulls ended the day with the Gracious Professionalism award and the Innovate award. And . . . . they qualified for state championships! Both teams have earned awards and competed well through the season and we are very proud and excited for them.

The Future City Team met their first deadline by completing and submitting their essay on Friday. Their challenge this year is to create a city 100 years in the future that has eliminated food waste from farm to table. Did you know that Alabama is among the top states for food wasted production? In 2019, Alabama generated 872,000 tons of surplus food waste, equivalent to 1.4 billion meals and $5.62 billion in lost sales. Ask the Future City team about their suggestions to eliminate food waste. Hint - their focus is on food waste in homes.

The Greenpower Team has replaced the car's nose cone and has been focusing on their portfolio. The portfolio discusses their engineering process and describes the changes they make to the car, engine, tires, driving strategies, etc based on their race results. Their ranking scores are based on both the race results as well as their portfolios. It is an important part of the Greenpower challenge.

Science Olympiad takes place on February 28 in Tuscaloosa. This will be a car pool event. The boosters will not be arranging transportation or hotel rooms. Parents will need to arrange/provide transportation for the event.

Check in is at 7:45 am and the event runs until 6:45 pm..

If parents plan on going down the night before, you will want to make hotel arrangements asap. That is also UA Parent's weekend and the hotels are already getting booked and some are already increasing their nightly rates. Some attendees will be staying in the Birmingham area and drive to Tuscaloosa in the morning.

More information will be available after break.

The orders for the families who purchased spirit wear are here! I am planning on bringing the orders with me to STEAM on Tuesday and Thursday. Students can take them home or you can come pick them up. Thanks to all who ordered from the Spirit Store.

TSA, Technology Students Association, state conference is coming in April in Montgomery. Applications are being evaluated and students have been notified and students are already busy planning their events together. There are 29 students participating; 22 STEAM students and 7 students from Art and Cybersecurity. There are 3 faculty advisors. It is a great group and we are excited about the possibilities for the students. More information about travel, preparation/practice, dress code will be provided after the first of the year.

The event takes place at Marriott Conference Center in Montgomery April 13 - 15. We have made reservations for students, faculty advisors and 5 chaperones/parents. Here is the link if parents would like to make a reservation and attend. Please know that the block reservation does not have any more rooms available, but the hotel was able to reserve rooms for us at a similar rate when I called.

https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1736873139085&key=GRP&guestreslink2=true&app=resvlink

The Optimist Club awarded the HCMS STEAM Team a $1000 grant. Kenley Davis had the opportunity to represent the team at the Optimist meeting to receive the grant and share a few words about the STEAM Team. These are skills that are developed as the students give presentations during competitions like FTC, Future City and TSA. Kenley did a great job. Thank you Kenley!

The students involved in the Future City Competition need recycled items to build their city model. They are limited to $100 worth of materials hence the need for recycled or scrap materials.

Items that can be used are

- bottles (preferably plastic) and bottle caps

- tins (small like for gum or mints)

- buttons

- Old toy pieces like Legos, gears, Tinkertoys and blocks

- Game pieces like tokens, chips or dice

- Discarded or scrap pipe, wire or plastic

- Old parts from stoves, cabinets, and plumbing fixtures

- Obsolete or outdated electronic equipment

Please look around your homes and places of work for these items. The more materials the Future City team has, the more creative they can be with their city design.

Newsletter - Weekly updates about upcoming events, event information, and celebration of team experiences.

Remind - Remind is the primary method of communication between Mrs. Snider, the boosters and the parents. To join the new 2025-26 HCMS STEAM Remind click here https://www.remind.com/join/f23e6ab. Be sure you are signed into link to make sure you are receiving up to date information.

Website - https://member.hamptoncovesteam.com

Currently under construction, but will soon include calendar for all events and helpful information regarding events and fundraising. (If you have skills in updating and maintaining a website we would love your help! Please contact Mrs. Snider, Jennie Maestri or Beth Wright.)

Are you a member of the HCMS Steam Team group on Facebook? This page is

where we celebrate team accomplishments, share the newsletter and share community opportunities.

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DF8dubLKw/