Meet the S.T.E.A.M. team and more

Cross-posted from nchslibraryinfo.blogspt.com and coauthored by Jackie Whiting.

The S.T.E.A.M. Club formed this year by merging the MakerMajors and TechXperts into one club. We meet each Wednesday after school and the collective work of these students is transforming the library. We are so grateful for the talents, personalities, and work of these students that we wanted to introduce them and their contributions to you. Here they are:

Reilly: our PR maven!

Greetings! I'm Reilly O’Neill, and I enjoy long walks on the beach. Just kidding, I hate the beach. What I do love is being a part of the library student staff and making the library program as great as it can be. I'm a junior and a library intern, you can find me sorting books for our annual Vide collection or helping out behind the circulation desk. This year I've been assisting the librarians as much as possible and working with the STEAM club to improve our already great library program. Outside of the library I'm an editor for the school paper and member of the varsity cheerleading team.

Theo: Renaissance Man

Hello, My name is Theo. I joined TechXperts this year in order to support and expand the technological community at New Canaan High School. I mostly deal with software, testing it and showing others how a program works. My technological passion has always been programming, and I now instruct younger students in the fundamentals of scratch programming. When I am in the library, you will mostly find me at the help desk. This winter I am working as a Ski Instructor, as well as continuing my exploration of the German language.

Oh Captain, TechXpert Captain

Hi, my name is Spencer. I helped found the TechXperts because I love to help people out with technological problems. I enjoy working the on-call help desk, teaching professional development, and I am really looking forward to helping expand the library's Makerspace, as well as making technology-based video tutorials. When I'm not at the Help Desk, I enjoy leading my Boy Scout troop, Working in and around NCPS in the Technology Department, and biking. Follow me on Twitter for more @spencerree.

Sophia, our Zen Master!

Hi. I'm Sophia and I became a member of the Maker Majors just this past school year. Before coming to NCHS I had never heard of Maker Majors and TechXperts. I had actually never heard of STEAM club at all but was happy to learn about it and become an official member. Currently I am working on a project about the making of therapy dolls and the method behind using them with children in hospitals. So far I have learned the process of making the dolls as well as the background of the project. The therapy doll are said to be a great way for doctors and nurses in the hospital to show the children the procedure that is going to take place on them first on the doll so it is less scary. They can communicate their feelings and understand with a visual representation what is going to be done on their body. As I continue my project I hope to learn and explore the process further.

Casey is currently building
a desktop computer at the
TechXpert station

Howdy, I’m Casey. I joined the TechXperts because I enjoy helping people with techy problems. During middle school at New Canaan Country School, I was the go-to unofficial tech support. When I found out that NCHS has the TechXperts, I immediately joined. One of my goals on the team is to be able to expand the library’s technology department, specifically with virtual reality. When I’m not helping students with tech problems, I enjoy staying inside with a cup of hot tea and watching Netflix. Hello!

Mary's independent study
project involves creations
with beads

My name is Mary Cross, and I am a Maker Major, this year. I am in my junior year, and I was told about STEAM and decided join, and learn more about it so I can contribute in my own way. The three major things that I'm focused my project on are making or Religious artifacts, mail and/or greeting card design, and finding ways to create or combine different art projects. I feel that this can be fun for other students, and good for personal creativity. I enjoy doing art in general, and creating new ideas and trying out projects. I hope people enjoy my projects and ideas cause I certain lay know I will XD.

Claudia is a tremendously 
talented artist;
she drew this avatar of
 herself on her phone!

Hello there! My name is Claudia, I’m  from the Dominican Republic and I’m a Maker Major. I was one of the first students to use the Makerspace when it was first introduced and I fell in love with it. I love to have a creative area in the school, a place that allows me to create things and exercise my talents freely. I’ve been helping the Makerspace since the beginning by giving ideas and organizing/cleaning when needed as well as helping other students. I joined the STEAM club because I love the makerspace and I am always looking out for it, always thinking of how we can make it even better. If you want to know more about me, things that interest me are art, music, and fantasy stories. I like things that are colorful or shiny-even better-BOTH. I really hope that other students can enjoy the makerspace as much as I do and I hope that more people are encouraged to use it and take care of it like the other members of the STEAM club.

In other library news, we have had lots of requests from administrators, teachers, librarians, and parents from other districts to visit our library and learn from our program. To help these other districts obtain the information they need to make decisions for their schools we have begun building this website, NCHS Library: the ins & outs, to explain what we do and what the library program is all about. We particularly enjoy the "Meet the Librarians" page!

Instructions for uploading assignments to library Moodle

On Friday, January 13th, NCTV Morning Announcements will broadcast the following message. Students might want to get a head start and prepare one works cited, one research question, and one thesis statement for submission.  

"This morning, all NCHS students will receive instructions from the library to upload 

• one works cited
• one thesis statement
• one research question

from fall semester 2016 to their respective graduating class in the Library Moodle. Students can choose from any assignment in any subject. All work must be submitted by the end of the marking period, on January 23rd." 

No update would be complete without our bi-weekly Tech Tips; this installment: more on being a Google power searcher!

• Chrome accounts: Sign into Chrome. It makes it much easier to toggle between school and other Google accounts.
• Multiple browsers: Have at least two browsers on your computer. It helps troubleshoot when you run into problems navigating websites. 
• Protect your AirDrop: Make sure your Airdrop is private unless you are sharing. 

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