NASHUA – On Thursday, March 12, St. Christopher School gathered an impressive group of speakers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math for its annual STEM Day.

After a keynote presentation by WMUR meteorologist Kevin Skarupa, 14 guests addressed groups of students on topics such as forensic science, emergency medicine and CPR, water conservation and water treatment, air traffic control, helmet safety, computers and programming, sound engineering, electrical currents, chromatography and structural engineering.

Among the presenters were Chris Stawasz, Patty Stolerz, Rodney Wilcox, Theresa Yasevich, Darren Bauer, Rob Lembree, Amy Corriveau, Meghan McCarthy, Chris Countie, Don Sherwood, Jeff Forsyth, Sophie Marquis, Shane Zeman and Fred Daniels.

The speakers represented companies such as American Medical Response, Pennichuck Corp., the FAA, the Center for Physical Therapy and Exercise and the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory.

In addition, recent U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize winner Deepika Kurup spoke to fifth- and sixth-grade students.

Many of the sessions were hands-on, allowing the students to experience the excitement that comes from scientific exploration and learning.

“I really enjoyed learning CPR,” third-grade student Vidya Nandakumar said. “We also tested different pen materials and looked through a big microscope at money. I liked it all!”

In the afternoon, students in grades 3-6 attended a program presented by FIRST Robotics Team 811 of Bishop Guertin High School, which brought its competition robot to show off its moves.

“The students were particularly intrigued by the mechanics used to accomplish the competition goal of picking up plastic trash totes,” science teacher Sally Mitchell said.

“After the demonstration, several students were discussing other unique tasks that they thought a robot could accomplish. I have no doubt that someday they will make those things happen.”

In the evening, families returned to the school for the schoolwide STEM Fair. Over the last month, each classroom from prekindergarten through sixth grade conducted a science project on a specific topic and developed displays of their results. The fair allowed students to show their work to their parents and families in the classrooms.

In addition, members of the school’s STEM Committee provided a number of exploratory stations throughout the school with additional hands-on scientific experiments and equipment.

Principal Cynthia Clarke said she was pleased with the days’ events.

“Our curriculum has been evolving to support more recent trends and interests in science and technology over the past few years,” she said. “We believe it’s not just about science fair projects. It’s about creating a culture of inquiry, regardless of the curriculum area.

“At St. Christopher, students are doing work that is investigative in nature, and this helped to make our STEM Day and evening a huge success.”

For more information about St. Christopher School’s STEM Day activities or the school itself, call Clarke at 882-7442.