WCHS STEM Club

05/08/2025

02/07/2025

Last Friday, we hosted a career fair for our students! We can’t extend our thanks enough to all the people who showed up for our students!

Careers represented include tattoo artists, hospital pharmacist, regional cosmetology instructor, engineer, knowledge and collaboration engineer team manager for SAIC, environmen scientist, conservation educator, fisheries program coordinator, firefighters, national guard, lineman, electrician, plumber, conservation officer, software engineer, KSP trooper, deco architects, attorney, repiratkry therapist, police officer, division of forestry, and the USDA office.

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful community who cares about our students!

12/17/2024

I didn’t get many pictures, but for the December club day we made borax ornaments! Updated pictures to come later.

12/17/2024

For the November club day, we created ornaments for our classroom trees!

12/02/2024

We are excited to announce the upcoming STEM Career Fair at Wayne County High School, and are looking for community members to be a part of this inspiring event! The fair will offer our students a valuable opportunity to explore the wide variety of career paths in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Event Details:
Date: Friday, January 31, 2024
Time: 8:15 AM – 3:15 PM
Location: Wayne County High School Library
Lunch: A potluck-style lunch will be served from 12:00 PM – 1:25 PM

We invite you to join us by representing your profession, sharing your experiences, and inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers, innovators, and tech leaders. Your participation would provide our students with a deeper understanding of the exciting possibilities that lie ahead in STEM fields.

How can you participate?
Set up a table to share information about your career and your field with students. Some questions they may ask include (but are not limited to):
What does a typical day in your job look like?
What skills and qualifications are most important for success in your field?
What education or training is required to get started in your career?
What are the best ways to gain experience or break into your industry?
What do you enjoy most about your career?
What challenges do you face in your role or industry?
What opportunities for advancement exist in your field?
Is there a high demand for jobs in your industry?
What are typical salary ranges for entry-level positions in your field?
Do you offer internships or mentorship opportunities for students?

We believe that community involvement can make a lasting impact, inspiring our students to explore their interests and pursue exciting futures in STEM.

If you're interested in participating, please RSVP by clicking the link and completing the form below. For questions, message our page!

Please complete this form no later than to RSVP for the January 31st Career Fair at Wayne County High School by the WCHS STEM Club.

12/02/2024

For the October club day, STEM club crafted balloon animals! Students chose their balloons and chose tutorials to watch.

Creating balloon animals allowed principles of air pressure, elasticity, and geometry. Inflating a balloon stretches its elastic material, creating tension and expanding volume. Twisting segments uses geometry to form shapes, while the balloon's elasticity helps it retain its form. When twisting the balloon, the tension in the material is not evenly distributed. In areas where the balloon is twisted, the rubber is stretched, and the material is under greater tension. This tension is what allows the balloon to hold its shape after it’s twisted, creating stable "segments" for the animal’s body parts. Temperature affects inflation, and overinflation causes popping.

We also learned about the memory effect. Some balloons may have a "memory" in terms of their shape, especially if they are twisted repeatedly or stored in specific positions. The balloon can sometimes try to revert back to its original, uninflated shape due to the natural elasticity of the material, which could cause the twists to loosen over time unless secured properly.

We had so much fun!

09/21/2024

Throughout spirit week, the STEM club has been taking donations to be used to help provide our students with STEM opportunities. Teachers volunteered to have their names written on a bucket. Today at the pep rally, the top three teachers whose bucket had collected the most money were pied in the face. Names of donors were placed in a bucket and drawn to pie the teachers.

In first place was Ms. MacKenzie Doss, pied by our Principal Mrs. Renee Kennett.

In second place was Ms. Ashley Harmon, pied by Abby Curtis.

In third place was Mrs. Jenny Vinson, pied by Darrin Acrey.

A huge thank you to all those students and staff who helped us fundraise for our students and make this possible! Also, thanks to Mrs. Presley Sutton for filming for u

09/13/2024

Starting tomorrow through next Friday!

09/04/2024

Here’s a better look at our exploding watermelon experiment! Thanks to all who sent us video clips, we had so much fun coming together!

09/04/2024

All students enrolled in a science class at Wayne County High School are members of the WCHS STEM Club. Friday, August 30th was our first club day of the year. To kick off the year, we ventured outside for some fun!

In the watermelon rubber band experiment, when you wrap multiple rubber bands around a watermelon, the stored potential energy within each stretched band eventually overcomes the strength of the watermelon rind. The watermelon begins to change shape causing the atoms inside of it to move. At some point the watermelon loses elasticity causing it to burst due to the cumulative force exerted by the contracting rubber bands, essentially converting potential energy into kinetic energy in a dramatic explosion. This phenomenon is primarily explained by the concept of applied force and the principle of stored energy within elastic materials like rubber bands, as described by Hooke's Law.

Before going outside, all students were briefed on procedures and safety. Safety goggles were provided also. In the classroom, we posed the question "How many rubber bands will it take to explode a watermelon, and how long will it take?" Students recorded their hypothesis on a sticky note then placed it on their class period's poster in the hall as we exited the building.

Once outside, students chose a buddy to put rubber bands on with. This was an essential safety procedure to ensure no student leaned over the top of the watermelon. After, they split into two groups. Students were once again briefed on procedures before beginning. Once we began, it became a race to see which team could build up enough pressure with the rubber bands to get their watermelon to explode the fastest. Other roles filled by students include timing each team, recording the number of rubber bands used on each watermelon, and taking photos. We all had so much fun in this experiment!