THE STEM INITIATIVE

 

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of St. Thomas Aquinas High School is to stimulate curiosity and creativity in students through a challenging, STEM-integrated curriculum and to develop the higher level critical thinking skills essential for solving real world problems. This incorporates collaboration and communication both within the St. Thomas Aquinas community as well as with local STEM industries and universities.

For more information on STEM@STA watch the video below

 

 

TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

St. Thomas Aquinas High School is leading the charge with STEM integration in the classroom. With touch screen technology in every classroom and Chrome Books for every student, lessons come to life through the integration of digital and in person activities. Students have access to a 30 seat state of the art computer lab equipped with industry standard CAD, Coding and Design software. Film Production classes access an 11 seat editing suite geared to replicate a professional workspace. 

The aptly named STA Innovation Center takes STEM to the next level. This second floor facility offers a hub of opportunities for  design, development, construction and experimentation in all areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It provides teachers and students with state-of-the-art technology in the most ideal collaborative learning environments.

The Anatomage Table is touch-sensitive technology, that projects full-length views of a human cadaver and it's muscular, skeletal, nervous, digestive and pulmonary systems. The table assembles 2,000 3D images to show layers and slices of various tissues. Students can view a cross-section of a muscle, organ or other structure.

Among the Anatomage software are images of a liver distended by cancer, an ACL knee injury, an ectopic pregnancy, a stab wound, and a stent placed in an artery. Students can trace the flow of blood from the heart into the lungs. The table can even teach veterinary science, with images of animals like a dog, a cat, a parrot, a tortoise, even a squirrel like Australian creature called a sugar glider.

We didn't stop there. The Virtual Reality Program immerses students in a three-dimensional world. “Experiences” dissect a mushroom or a pig, measure the Doppler effect of a train, follow a bat through a cave with echolocation, assemble a circuit board, step inside a beating human heart to examine the chambers, or mix volatile chemicals.

 

CAMPUS WIDE STEM INITIATIVES

HYDROPONIC VERTICAL GARDEN

With an ever increasing global population, in the future, hydroponic vertical farming projects may very well be the only way to adequately feed those living in overcrowded cities.  Not only are hydroponic gardens very efficient by limiting nutrient and water waste the system is also fully organic using NO artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, nor fungicides.  In conventional large scale farming operations huge expanses of land are required with water that often blows away in the wind, and fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that runoff into nearby ecosystems cause toxic contamination and destruction.

Growing food in your own backyard or in a local garden not only contributes to a lifetime of better personal health but it's an easy way to reduce your global ecological footprint.  By growing and buying food locally we can reduce the amount of carbon emissions it takes to ship our outsourced food around the globe from where it's grown to our local supermarkets.

The overall theme of this project: sustainability, preservation and conservation of Earth's natural resources reflects the teachings from Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si which explains that God has entrusted the world to us men and women and there is urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity.

ROBOTICS AT STA

Boys’ and girls’ teams design, build, and drive robots in FIRST robotics competitions (FTC & FRC). Robotics is the ultimate program that incorporates all aspects of STEM. Students can participate in Robotics through courses offered twice weekly after school. For photos and event information, please visit our Instagram Page @sta_raider_robotics

CLICK HERE FOR RECENT COMPETITION RESULTS

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH

Honors Independent Research is an enrichment honors course that offers students the ability to select and execute Scientific Research projects and compete in a variety of competitions.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPETITION UPDATES

  • This program had students compete at County and State level Science Fair since the first year of its inception: we have been to the state level of competition since its inception.
  • In six years,  students have succeeded in multi-round competitions resulting in international level competition, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair  
  • In the last four years, All competing students from this class have received special awards and placed at the county level Science Fair. 
  • Special Recognition awards have been received by our students from prestigious organizations and universities such as the Yale Innovative Design award , Stanford Univ., NASA, the American Psychological Society,  Mu Alpha Theta Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the Air Force &Naval Academy , the Stockholm Water Prize for Environmental Sciences,   US Agency for International Development and more
  • In four of six years, our students have succeeded to the International level of competition to compete against 2000 worldwide students and one student who achieved Fourth place in the world for Translational Medicine

 

READ MORE STEM@STA NEWS

 

STEM CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

 

 PROUDLY COLLABORATING WITH

 

GO SOCIAL WITH STEM