020426...R CHAMP-SCIENCE 1...Champion...02-04-26....Champion Middle School fifth graders Maddyx Wheelock, 11, left, Hudson Barker, 11, center, and Hudson Grimes, 11, work together while assembling a wind turbine...by R. Michael Semple

CHAMPION — Fifth grade students from Champion Middle School are learning to solve challenges through science, technology, engineering and math activities as part of a two-week after-school program.

Science teachers Rebecca Baxter and David Murduck meet with fifth graders and then the next two weeks with sixth graders in the STEM Club.

The activities are based on the book “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which told of generating water during a drought in Africa with students making small windmills with cardboard blades.

Baxter and Murduck said the key is hands-on learning for the students.

Murduck said while many students attend the Trumbull County Educational Service Center’s STEAM program, they have a small part of a STEM program at the school.

“What we do reinforces that program. While the science club is more experiments, the STEM Club involves using engineering and building to solve a problem,” Murduck said.

He said with experiments you can have one or two people working, but with STEM he wants students to work in larger groups to show cooperation and teamwork.

“We do activities with NASA, which is trying to get astronauts back to the moon, which is a big futuristic goal. The children are learning the process that NASA goes through,” Murduck said.

Murduck said the activities are examples of the importance of research, engineering and building to try and solve problems.

He said groups work to develop the best design for windmill blades to create electricity.

Murduck said the book read by the students tells of William Kamkwamba was 14 living in a drought-ravaged area of Malawi in Africa pursued a dream that brought electricity and running water to the poor village. He said the teen had always been interested in how mechanical things work. He built a windmill from junkyard scraps and brought electricity and water to his home and village.

Murduck said the story shows no matter how old you are or how big the challenge with creativity, determination and hard work can save the world.

He said this year more girls signed up for the club. Of the 42 fifth graders, 27 are girls and 15 are boys.

This is the first year for the fifth-grade students to be part of the STEM Club at Champion Middle School.

Anna Downs, fifth grade, said she likes being able to build.

“I like science a lot and hope by being part of this will further my science knowledge,” Downs said.

Grace Kingdom, fifth grade, said a lot is trying what works and what doesn’t work.

Marina Cleland, fifth grader, said she likes trying new things to solve problems.

“We are trying to see which windmill makes the most energy. We put the blades on at different angles and then blow a fan on them to see if they move,” Cleland said.

Ravenna Terlecky, fifth grader, said she likes being creative when trying something new.

“It’s trial and error to see which ones work,” she said.

Baxter said an Ohio Energy project grant of between $500 to $600, which the school district has received for three years in a row, covers cost for the materials.

Murduck said the sixth graders will be using programs from NASA.