West Springfield Boys & Girls Club Awarded $3,865 West Springfield Arts Council Grant for “S.T.E.A.M.” Enrichment Clubs

WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA – From January 3rd to February 3rd, 2023, “Winter Wonderland S.T.E.A.M.” Enrichment Clubs for grades 1 through 5 ran across three West Springfield Boys & Girls Club sites. 

This program was supported in part by a grant from the West Springfield Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. At each weekly meeting, members learned new scientific concepts and used them to create unique, winter-themed art projects such as snow-globes, igloos, crystalized trees, and snowflakes. The “S.T.E.A.M.” in the Enrichment Club’s name stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics,” and each session challenged members to think creatively about a problem and work together to solve it, emphasizing the connections between art and science.

West Springfield Boys & Girls Club offers a variety of Enrichment Club sessions throughout the year, each of which offers a unique opportunity for members and non-members to learn new crafts, participate in science experiments, make new friends and create lifelong memories. “Winter Wonderland S.T.E.A.M” sessions were offered at Fausey Elementary School, Tatham Elementary School and Mittineague Elementary School, but other Enrichment Clubs have taken place at the Club’s primary location on Main Street and at West Springfield Middle School. 

Patty Murphy, of the West Springfield Arts Council, commented, “I was most impressed with the WSBG Club incorporating Arts into its STEM program and making it relatable and interesting for its members. The satellite program is a very innovative concept which easily allows many more students to participate in specialized afterschool programs promoting arts and sciences.”

Club Experience Director Marissa Friedman has plans for more S.T.E.A.M. Enrichment Clubs in the future, saying, “this is my favorite thing to do!” In addition to running several Enrichment Clubs each year, West Springfield Boys & Girls Club provides before & after school programs for an average of 600 youth each year. The Club also offers full day programs during school vacations, a summer camp program with weekly themes and field trips, and operates “Little Futures” Preschool for children aged 2.9 through kindergarten. Each of these programs furthers the Club’s primary mission of providing all youth with the support they need to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. 

For more information about Enrichment Clubs, before & after school care, and any other Club programming, please contact West Springfield Boys & Girls Club at (413) 736 1831 or visit their website at www.wsbgclub.org.

Boys & Girls Club of West Springfield WSAC News

Winter Wonderland S.T.E.A.M. Enrichment Clubs

Jan 26, 2023 | Club News

Regardless of the weather outside, members of our Winter Wonderland S.T.E.A.M Enrichment Clubs have been working hard, having fun, and using science to create their winter-themed art projects. At the start of the six-week program, Club members built well-insulated igloos and decorated snowy scenes. In weeks 2 and 3, they moved on to a multi-week art and science project – creating their own enchanted forest!

To create their scenes, members first explored the challenge of manipulating a 2-dimensional piece of cardboard into 3-dimensional trees and enchanted forest creatures. They used math and visualization skills to design, measure, cut and assemble their creations. The next step was to mix up a crystal growing solution, all while discovering the science behind suspension, sedimentation, capillary action, and evaporation. Within hours of pouring the solution, snow-like crystals began showing up in their forests. When kids came back the next week, they were able to see the final results of their efforts: beautiful enchanted trees covered in delicate, needle-like crystals!

There’s still plenty of Winter Wonderland S.T.E.A.M. to look forward to! For their next project, members will tackle symmetry and snowflakes while creating fun and interesting winter ornaments. In the meantime, we want to acknowledge those who made these Enrichment Clubs possible. This program is supported in part by a grant from the West Springfield Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Thank you to the West Springfield Arts Council for choosing to support this fun and educational program! You can check out in-progress and finished pictures of the enchanted trees below, and keep an eye on our social media for more to come! 

Complete information and photos of projects is posted on the Boys & Girls Club of West Springfield website.