Steam and Maker Education

In Hewitt’s Programming and Robotics course, students learn how to create computer animations, design for digital fabrication, and program electronic circuitry, all with code. Because this introductory course focuses on hands-on projects that are grounded in real-world contexts, students start learning by doing at their very first class meeting, quickly making connections between the projects they are working on in class and the systems and electronics they use on a daily basis.

The New York Times’ Spelling Bee puzzle provides opportunities for members of the Hewitt community to unpack mathematics and engage with quantitative reasoning, to collaborate across disciplines and roles, and to stay connected despite the geographical challenges brought on by social distancing.

In Problem Solving and Posing, a mathematics elective for Hewitt seniors, students explored how to bring conversations about math to a wider audience through Sidewalk Math, a movement designed to make math enjoyable, creative, tangible, and accessible. 

Hewitt Robotics Team 11442N created an inspiring video to shed light on the lack of women in STEM fields and to highlight how, through robotics, "students are able to get engineering experience...creating a space for a love of technology to grow." 

The Hewitt Innovation Lab is designed to be a space for students and teachers to explore meaningful ways of making — to make with a purpose. Research shows that many girls and women want to learn how to use technology skills to accomplish meaningful goals, such as pursuing artistic expression, solving a problem, or thinking differently about academic concepts. 

To learn about the animals that inhabit our oceans, second graders engaged in an interdisciplinary and multisensory project that invited them to explore marine life as readers, writers, artists, researchers, and public speakers. By directing their own learning at every stage of the project, these young scientists became deeply invested in work that was meaningful to them while developing confidence in their abilities to think critically and independently. 

Whether building a robot from scratch or working alongside a teammate to troubleshoot a pesky programming glitch, students in Hewitt’s middle school robotics program are design-thinkers and problem-solvers who learn from their successes and challenges. 

Estefania Suquilanda, Hewitt’s lower school tech support specialist, has always had a passion for repairing gadgets. “My goal is to pass on the repair bug to Hewitt students from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Whether dealing with a cracked phone screen or an argument with a best friend, knowing how to repair things is an important skill to have.”