STREAM

The Academy of the Holy Angels is currently in its second year of its Surgical Research Course in partnership with Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. Each semester, four seniors participate in a surgical science laboratory course working with a student coordinator at Englewood Hospital and science faculty at AHA. This course provides students with a unique opportunity to gain experience in a research setting beyond our classrooms and learn the fundamentals of in vivo surgical methods. Topics will focus on micro-suturing, tissue collection, renal vessel isolation, bioethics, and aseptic surgery. In addition, students will be introduced to advanced analytical methodology such as enzyme linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assays and make use of specialized equipment like UV/Visible spectrophotometers and photomicroscopes.

AHA students accepted into this competitive program typically have a high level of enthusiasm for pursuing a STEM career, particularly one in medicine. The course is held after school one day per week for twenty-two weeks. Selected students attend a two-hour Orientation Seminar at Englewood Hospital prior to beginning the course. Holy Angels covers the costs for students through generous donations from benefactors.

As part of our STREAM program, AHA has enhanced its state-of-the-art technology by adding 3-D printing and 3-D scanning capabilities to its portfolio. Now students can model, visualize, and create their own designs in conjunction with Google Sketch-Up. Detailed specifications can be programmed into designs for all types of intricate productions. The faces of Engineering, Medicine, Architecture, and much more will be transformed. AHA students will benefit from exploring such a sophisticated printer that could change the world.

Project Greenhouse began as a school-wide STREAM project in which Angels constructed a functional greenhouse near the science classrooms. Each year, students plant seeds and later transplant the seedlings in the school garden. When the crops are harvested, the fresh produce is donated to local food banks.

Project Greenhouse volunteers gain experience in budgeting, safety, planning and design, construction, accessorizing, planting, harvesting, and disbursing products. This is a hands-on opportunity to carry out cross-curricular studies in biology, environmental science, physics, mathematics, engineering, and technology, stressing the importance of the interaction among the sciences and the simultaneous expression of humanistic values.

Angel volunteers prepare the garden beds, plant the seedlings, care for the plants, harvest the crops, and deliver the produce. A team of adult moderators/teachers provides guidance.

Discover the iterative process and trial and error cycles that allow engineering teams to solve problems. As a member of the Angelbots or Anjoules, you will collaborate to plan, design, build, and program a fully functional robot and field test it at the FIRST Tech® Challenge. Teams are evaluated on robotic controls and functions, and the engineering notebook and planning process that led to the completed robot. As you build your robot, you and your team will develop key engineering skills:

• Define the problem based on the competition scenario.
• Brainstorm possible solutions.
• Develop strategy to maximize output (competition points).
• Define team approach to execute. This project involves planning, allocation of team resources and work, the design of the robot, testing and evaluation of a prototype that validates the design, computer programming, documentation of the engineering process, team communication, and communication of the results through documentation and presentation.