Middle schools place 2nd and 3rd at STEM Design Challenge
![Group photo of the STEM Design Challenge participants]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1744309844/uscsdk12paus/rkjq8awkcbbv14hlfhuh/STEM-Design.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1744309844/uscsdk12paus/rkjq8awkcbbv14hlfhuh/STEM-Design.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1744309844/uscsdk12paus/rkjq8awkcbbv14hlfhuh/STEM-Design.png","width":800}])
Teams from Fort Couch and Boyce middle schools earned second and third place, respectively, at the STEM Design Challenge held Thursday, April 3, 2025, at the Commonwealth Charter Academy in Homestead. Sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific and organized by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the competition challenges students to design and build a structure using K’Nex building materials.
Fort Couch Middle School’s team placed second in the sixth- through eighth-grade division. The team included eighth-grade students Claire Dietiker, Theodora Lagonis and Sunny Liu. Boyce Middle School placed third in the fourth- through fifth-grade division, with fifth-grade students Seetha Muthiah, Juliet Whitman and Harper Shively representing the school.
The Upper St. Clair students were coached by gifted/accelerated math teachers Mr. Jason O’Roark, at Fort Couch Middle School, and Mrs. Lydia Herman, at Boyce Middle School.
The STEM Design Challenge requires each team to develop a blueprint and engineering journal detailing their structure and the design process. During the competition, students must build their structure from the blueprint within a two-hour time limit, followed by a presentation to a panel of judges.
“The STEM Design Challenge encourages students to apply STEM skills and use K’Nex building products to accomplish the given goal,” O’Roark said.
The 2025 Challenge: This year’s theme focused on industry, innovation and infrastructure. Students were tasked with designing a prototype that addresses a real-world issue related to infrastructure, transportation or urban development. The goal was to inspire innovative thinking about how to build or improve cities, roads, bridges and systems to be more efficient, sustainable and accessible.
- Boyce
- Fort Couch