STEM Themed Youth Weekend Retreat

A big thanks to Vocational Rehabilitation Teacher, Ross Pollpeter,  for providing this creative recap of the February 24-26 youth weekend retreat. This retreat was held during the 2023 Braille Challenge and the students attended the STEMfest we held in conjunction with the Governor's STEM council on February 25th. 

Last weekend 12 students arrived, across Iowa they're from,

Engineers or scientists perhaps one day they become.

All excited, energetic, eager to explore,

Projects and activities planned, students asking for more,

Designed landing craft for their egg astronauts, dropped them from the stairwell,

Only one survived, 4th floor was the final farewell.

Engineered mousetraps, spoons, craft sticks and tape into catapults,

Shot ping pong balls at Helen and her castle with hilarious results.

Some students challenged their knowledge of braille,

Testing their skills, reading and writing. They could not fail.

Each took turns overseeing a table at the annual STEM Fest,

Making beach balls float, "Wingardium leviosa.”  Their project was one of the best.

Fantastic movie night, Gravity had students on the edge of each seat, tense with fear.

Explained science, effects of zero gravity, momentum, mass and weight, reentry into atmosphere.

Students seemed to have much fun with our Science & Engineering theme,

Two months later in April, they return to do the adventure again at Ogden Iowa’s Sunstream.