TWELVE DAYS OF STEM — McKinley STEM Academy counted down the days until its holiday break through a fun learning project entitled the 12 Days of STEM. Each day, students created themed projects which tested their skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Taking part were, from left, front, Eden Virtue, Dominance Crawford, and TaNora Terry; and back, Johnny Murray, Knox Freshwater, Saalih Muhammad, Nessiah Robinson and Kasen Filtz. -- Contributed

STEUBENVILLE — McKinley STEM Academy counted down the days to their holiday break by putting an educational spin on the “12 Days of Christmas.”

The 12 Days of STEM.

Students in preschool through fourth grade participated in various activities every afternoon using science, technology, engineering and mathematics to create holiday items, including gingerbread houses and a Christmas tree farm made with recycled cardboard.

Fourth-grade teacher and STEM leader Mackenzie Filtz said each day included a different themed event to put children in the holiday spirit.

“The hallway was decorated with gingerbread, Grinch and other themes,” Filtz continued. “The teachers planned their own STEM challenges. We’ve had the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County here to read to the younger classes and others did hands-on work with coding and robotics. There were different elements to incorporate, while we enjoyed the last couple of weeks left of school.”

“Students made gingerbread houses through the engineering and design process and created snowmen with cardboard or graham crackers and used PlayDoh, modeling clay and recycleable materials. On Grinch Day, they used a balloon to represent his heart growing three times bigger.”

The countdown began Dec. 3 and ran through Dec. 19. Among the special days were Ornament Day, Candy Cane Day, Santa Day, Elf Day and Reindeer Day. Each classroom had its own project to complete.

The end goal was the same, however. And that was to provide a fun and festive aspect into the kids’ education.

“It incorporates fun into learning,” Filtz said.