Gen STEM Update
What a year it has been for Gen STEM. Our students have continued to stretch their conceptual understanding, adopt new skills, and test their limits. All while making life-long friendships with like-minded students. We are excited to share with you what has been an exciting few weeks, finishing the year on a high.
On Saturday the 12th of November, Foxwell State Secondary College hosted the first ever annual First Lego League Coomera Regional Competition. Year 7 and 8 Gen STEM students competed against 10 other teams from Flagstone State Community College, Upper Coomera State School, Upper Coomera State College and Jongxing Chinese School, to demonstrate problem-solving, coding, robotics and engineering skills and to propose an innovative renewable energy solution to a panel of judges. Our Gen STEM students received the top award for Robot Design! The inception of this Northern Gold Coast hub has not only provided our own students with access to this experience, but has bridged the gap between Southern Gold Coast and Brisbane regions, as there has never been a hub in our Northern Gold Coast region. We plan on continuing this event for many years to come, bringing many other schools on board to build capacity in students right across our region.
Our Year 9 Gen STEM students have continued their exploration of hydrogen as an energy source. Backed by our sponsors ABB Technologies, students have completed their initial build of their remote-control cars and are currently converting them to hydrogen-powered EV remote control cars. We are excited to practice racing before the big race day in Gladstone in April 2023.
The Wonder of Science State Finals took place at UQ on the 25th of November, where 3 of our Gen STEM teams presented their science inquiry projects to other state representative schools across Queensland and an expert judging team. Students showed the SPIRIT values and STEM knowledge as they interacted with peers, expert scientists, and community members. We are proud to announce that our Year 8 Gen STEM team walked away with 2nd place statewide for their presentation, an enormous accomplishment considering these students competed against 27 schools at a State level.
We are so excited for 2023, and cannot wait to see our students continue to thrive in all aspects of STEM.