It was great to see students at various levels of their educational careers last week showing ingenuity and initiative. It was also great to see schools enabling students to take part in projects that help them to think outside the box.

In two stories that ran in Friday’s Eagle, Mars Centennial School sixth graders and a group of Chatham University graduate students collaborating with Mars borough were able to take part in unique learning opportunities.

Mars’ students got to blend their physical education classes with the school’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) program by creating homemade mini-golf courses. The project combined athletic activity with creative arts as students utilized copy box paper lids and recyclables to create obstacles on the golf courses.

Then, they employed math skills by determining which angles would work for the purposes of the course.

“That’s pretty much what STEAM is all about, encompassing multiple different subjects and taking their classroom learning and applying it with multiple different subject areas, just like they would in the real world,” STEAM teacher Chris Churilla said.

This sounds like a great project that allows students to learn while having fun.

Elsewhere in Mars, some Chatham University graduate students presented the results of a semester’s worth of research on Breakneck Creek to borough leaders at two meetings.

The students — led by Chatham’s program director of sustainability and an aquatic laboratory director — explored the tributary, gathered input from residents and explained regulatory specifics to create a glimpse of how Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System improvements in the borough might look in the future.

One area of concern involved the potential for pesticides and fertilizers to flow from an upstream golf course, while another had to do with the area between the creek and land being narrow and not having much shading or protection.

Suggestions from the students included the replacement of a bridge at Penn Mar Plaza, which they said could better accommodate high flows during a storm, and improved management of the stream.

They noted that fish in the stream were in “marginally good” condition, but that the ecosystem could flourish with more maintenance.

Students also met with residents to discuss damage to their homes caused by flooding during storms.

“What you’ve talked about at some of these meetings might be a real benefit to the community,” Mayor Gregg Hartung told the students.

We agree.

Both stories exhibited students being given the chance to learn through experience, to be creative and to take what they’ve learned through study and apply it through hands-on work.

During another week of the never-ending COVID-19 pandemic, these two stories provided some needed inspiration.

— NCD