Students and faculty from Punahou’s Design Technology and Engineering program are engaging in a partnership with counterparts at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School’s STEM and Makerspace programs. The partnership started during the pandemic and continues to flourish with both school’s participation.
During the pandemic, Punahou joined forces with public schools, including Stevenson, to produce PPE for hospitals and clinics across O‘ahu. Since then, the two schools have worked together in various ways.
Punahou Academy students visited middle schoolers at Stevenson to share lessons in engineering and technology last spring. This past summer, Stevenson and other DOE middle school participants took part in an action-packed training day at Punahou, led by students. Last fall, Punahou students created a Carnival funhouse as part of a fundraiser for STEM at Stevenson.
“Our Punahou students have had so much fun feeling the enthusiasm of the Stevenson students,” said Taryn Loveman, director of Design Technology and Engineering (DTE) at Punahou. “They are learning so much from the Stevenson students and are impressed by their creativity and quick mastery of the ideas and skills being presented.”
The goal is for students from multiple DTE classes at Punahou to have the chance to engage with Stevenson teachers and students and build closer relationships with the community. “We are looking forward to continuing to build on the aloha-filled interactions we have had so far,” Loveman said.
“Part of the reason that this partnership has been so positive is because of the genuine caring and aloha from Taryn, his engineering team and the students of Punahou,” said Linda Wong, Stevenson STEM faculty member. “We hope to continue this partnership for years to come. Thank you to the students and faculty for sharing their time, energy, expertise and resources with Stevenson.”
