Liberty STEM Club headed to AZ, TX
Posted on 04/18/2019
(SPS) - More than 40 students are about to embark on trips out of state as they take their education outside the classroom and into the real world.

The first group of 18 students is headed to Phoenix, Arizona on April 22 and for many, it will be their first time on an airplane.

The students, along with their sponsors, will be on a well-planned itinerary that is packed with learning opportunities which are really important to the students, according to STEM Club teacher Kimberly McCallum.

“Trips like these are valuable experiences for our students. They open their eyes to a world beyond what they know,” said Mrs. McCallum.

Check the school's Facebook page for updates and photos of their trips.

Here is where they will visit and what they will be doing:

Desert Botanical Garden, where they will learn about Biomimicry.
Phoenix Herpetological Society to learn about amphibians and reptiles of the desert.
South Mountain Environmental Education Center to experience desert life during the day and looking at the stars and planets with astronomers in the evening.
Phoenix Zoo for a special lesson on Rain Forest animals.
Grand Canyon for a ranger-led field trip focusing on the rock layers and the formation of the national park.
They will also visit the Arizona Science Center and Arizona Museum of Natural History.

The group returns on April 27, but it’s a quick turn-around for Mrs. McCallum as she will wrangle up her next group of 24 students and board a bus for Galveston, Texas the following day.

These are the places the Texas-bound group will visit on their six-day trip:

Little Beakers Science Lab to learn about scientific process.
Downtown Aquarium to receive a lesson on the layers of the rain forest and the adaptations animals have to live there.
Space Center Houston to visit historic mission control, tour the astronaut training facility, and explore the current space-related exhibits.
Lone Star Flight Museum for lessons on the science and history of flight.
Health Museum to learn about the science and functions of the human body.
Museum of Natural Science and two labs with Texas A&M at Galveston's Marine Biology Department to learn about and dissect a shark, as well as a lab in a salt marsh to learn about the animals that live there by going out to net them.

These excursions wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of the Sapulpa Masons. The Masons helped with events such as the talent competition in December, the Daddy Daughter Dance, Books and Bingo, as well as the Mazzio’s and Chick-fil-A evenings. On Wednesday, they presented a $10,800 check to the STEM Club as a result of the fundraising for the learning trips. Trips that will enhance the students’ education now, and later.

“It gives children hands-on experiences with things that they have previously only read about in books. The things they see and experience provide background knowledge for future learning and create dreams and visions for what they can do in their own futures,” said Mrs. McCallum.

Thank you, Sapulpa Masons. Safe travels, students!