STEM Minute| Building kids STEM skills and confidence one block at a time

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — A program that is encouraging creativity and healthy competition to help students expand their understanding of STEM concepts, Super Scream Bros is helping students grow both in and outside of the classroom.

Starting at a young age, participants in the program are able to grow their interest in the STEM field and be motivated to keep learning.

Elizabeth Cornett, the Outreach Coordinator for Super Scream Bros, says, "We're trying to get to students young so we can teach them throughout their years, and they can continue to go through our programs and just learn more and advance their skills."

The program works with kids ages 12 to 18 and provides the opportunity for students to learn new things. Currently, students are working on different projects ranging from 3-D printing to building a robot.

"We have started with teaching students three basic designs. We had them design a snowflake, a pyramid, and an additional design and then we will continue to allow them to design their own custom parts which we will then print and give to them."

The students are preparing for the First Tech Robot Challenge. In order to take part in the competition the students must first build their robot, and then on competition day be able to complete a variety of STEM challenges, putting their work to the test.

"We design a robot to complete certain challenges in our competition, which is what you see here with all the robot parts and components."

Organizers and volunteers at Super Scream Bros hope that the participants walk away with more than just basic STEM skills. They also hope that students walk away learning important life lessons and skills that they can carry with them throughout their lives.

"All the basics of science, technology, engineering, and math, they're important in almost any field you work in. They'll teach you communication skills, development skills, whether it's in designing curriculum to basic engineering and things like that."

Kids work together and are able to make new friends while gaining hands on experience that makes learning more fun. The students will compete in their robot challenge in December, giving them the opportunity to see their hard work pay off.