The M. Agnes Jones STEAMing Rams charged onto the campus of Augusta University on Oct. 26 for the second annual STEAMIFY competition and left with first-place honors.
Hosted by Augusta University’s College of Education, the event featured more than 150 fourth through eighth grade teams from across the state who competed in a series of prepared challenges in dance, engineering, visual arts and rocketry, as well as a spontaneous challenge that was administered the day of the competition.
M. Agnes Jones came in first place in the dance category. Dance coach Keisha Tyson-Johnson says the students used the engineering design process to design, create, and perform a dance piece that illustrates technology’s impact on the ecosystem from the perspective of animals.
“They really embraced STEAM and thought outside the box using the engineering design process,” Tyson-Johnson said. “This was a great opportunity for our scholars to gain exposure outside of the District. They really liked when people came up to them at the competition and asked about their STEAM-certified school.”
In 2017, M. Agnes Jones became the first APS school to receive STEM certification. Based on its strong existing arts program and strong community partners, M. Agnes decided to pursue STEAM certification in 2018. The school became STEAM certified in spring 2019.
Congratulations to first-place student dancers Amiyah Briant, Demetrius Bryant, Kiya Gould, A’Morgan Ogletree and Kenyana Towns; and their coaches Keisha Tyson-Johnson (dance) Jarvis Blackshear (engineering), Colm Jenkins (visual arts), Leslie Dickson and Rosemary Blankson (theater), and Shayla McGhee and Dr. Andrea Kiel (poetry).
Congratulations as well to Coach Deborah Scott and the Centennial Super Heroes from Centennial Academy Charter School, who took second-place honors in the engineering category!
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