At the 2023 NJEA Convention, the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) will once again present the STEAM Tank High School Challenge Showcase.
Facilitated by teachers and advisers, the STEAM Tank Challenge encourages students to work collaboratively. They identify and develop innovative solutions to issues such as climate change, societal problems, and situations that need resolution in our schools, communities, state, nation and around the globe.
STEAM Tank is open-ended to maximize student creativity and to allow students to take the challenge in any direction they wish. Students, no matter what they create or problem-solve, must learn to consider the impact of environmental and climate change, whether direct or indirect.
The STEAM Tank Challenge has elementary, middle, and high school participants. The challenge took place over the course of the spring and includes regional and state-level rounds of competition. Each level has a first, second and third-place prize.
You can meet the student STEAM entrepreneurs as they dazzle the NJEA Convention with their award-winning inventions and ideas. You’ll find them on Digital Boulevard on Thursday, Nov. 9.
Research confirms benefits of STEAM Tank
Working through the Rutgers School of Public Health, researchers conducted a survey in early 2023 of teachers and administrators who served as STEAM Tank coaches. The New Jersey Safe Schools Program conducted the survey in collaboration with staff of the NJSBA STEAM Tank Challenge and New Jersey Audubon.
The objective was to capture the coaches’ experiences with STEAM Tank during years 2021-2022, as presented as a virtual program during COVID-19. Based on their responses, the NJSBA STEAM Tank Challenge was found to be a successful educational enrichment experience for students throughout New Jersey.
You can read more about the survey and its analysis at njea.org/STEAMTank-survey.