SIS students Shannon McDermitt, M.L. Lenox and Kendra E. Moyer recently participated in the inaugural Wayne State University STEAM Challenge. The students were part of an inter-departmental team that competed with other student teams for up to $10,000 in prizes. Their team "Learning to Empathize" received an Honorable Mention for their project. Their poster indicated that their project, "is based on the central principle that, if teachers knew what their students were experiencing, then they would be empathetic, and fewer students might be suspended." The proposal included technological supports for students, teachers, and classrooms and school culture; as well as arts-based classroom resources for students.

Teammates from other departments included: Assata J. Haki and Lisa Rose LaMarre Wilmot from the Department of Theater and Dance, and Sarah D. Brooks and Bernadette Doré from the Educational Psychology & English Language Department.

Thank you to Dr. Laura Sheble for the photo of STEAM participants.