 Our Golden Apple segment is back tonight and this week we have a look at how Jean Dillon Elementary School in Bemidji is teaching their students to think in new ways with their STEAM class. Cheryl Moore has the story. Jean Dillon Elementary School is just starting to build their legacy. And one way they're doing that is by taking STEM, but thinking bigger. We're really excited about our STEAM program, which is basically STEM, if you will, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math. We added art because we want kids to be able to produce and share out their ideas. All of over 800 fourth and fifth graders in Jean Dillon get to take the STEAM class. They work in new classrooms that are equipped with the latest technology. We're really trying to introduce this earlier because kids are really excited about this. It's a really good way to drag in some of those academics and show them some of the applications that they can use them for. It's pretty easy getting these kids excited because of the generous tools. I mean our district has supplied us with such great things in our classroom that these kids have smiles on their face when they walk in. In STEAM, every day is a new challenge that the kids have to solve. We do something called missions, and those are kind of like our big ideas or our big projects that we're working on. Right now my kids are starting with some digital citizenship, and then we're going to move into spheroes. With the Jean Dillon STEAM program, the possibilities are endless. The students can design a robot in class, but they can also go outside and make a few videos. Another thing about the classrooms is that they're made for collaboration. That's one of the main things with STEAM is having the kids collaborate and work together. So our classrooms are open to students working in large groups, and our classrooms are also a little bit bigger than the regular classrooms. The lessons the kids learn in STEAM are meant to carry on throughout the rest of the school day, and eventually throughout their entire school career. The hope is that something the students do in STEAM will peak an interest outside of the classroom. At the four or five level, we're kind of trying to ignite that fire for the middle school and high school levels, which will continue these programs. Middle school has a great STEAM program, and the high school has a lot of industrial tech programs. When they have a science lesson from their regular ad teacher, something in their brain kind of clicks, and they see that, oh, we did this in STEAM class. Reporting in Bemidji with this week's Golden Apple, Shromor, Lake Lanouse. If you enjoyed this segment of Lake Lanouse, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lake Lan PBS.