BOURBONNAIS, IL – The annual Team Steam Competition was held Thursday and two teams from Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center (BUGC) participated, consisting of a total of eight seventh-grade students.
The competition involved various problem-solving challenges that tested the students’ ingenuity, creativity, and teamwork.
The first challenge required the students to engineer a cooler that could keep a bottle of water frozen for four hours and have a lid that provided easy access to the bottle, using only cardboard, tin foil, and other items. In the second challenge, the students had to make dough rise without a recipe, which tested their understanding of baking science.
The students then created their own food trucks and devised ways to promote them. However, a surprise ingredient was added to the menu, with one team receiving spam and the other alligator to incorporate into their recipes. A math challenge followed, where the students had to determine the source of a food poisoning outbreak caused by the food truck.
Despite the challenges, the BUGC teams performed exceptionally well, impressing the judges with their creative problem-solving skills and determination. “The students were incredible,” said a school representative. “I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The annual STEAM Challenge features students from across the area and is presented by the I-KAN Iroquois-Kankakee Regional Office of Education.
The competition not only challenged the students but also provided them with valuable experience in science, math, and marketing. The event showcased their skills and teamwork, which will undoubtedly benefit them in their future academic and professional pursuits. The BUGC students not only excelled in the competition but also demonstrated their potential to be future leaders in their respective fields.
