STEAM fair sparks creativity, sustainable solutions from students across Guyana

Various schools across the country are hosting fairs that highlight students’ knowledge and understanding of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics).
At one such STEAM fair in Georgetown, Assistant Chief Education Officer (ACEO) Sherwin Blackman highlighted how these events play a key role in supporting Guyana’s sustainable growth. The Georgetown STEAM Fair opened STEAM Exhibition at St Joseph’s High School on Monday.

The STEAM Fair is an event that celebrates steam-powered machinery, often featuring demonstrations, trade stalls, and entertainment.
Sherwin Blackman, ACEO (Secondary), delivered the feature address during the opening ceremony, where he emphasised that the STEAM Fair will contribute to the sustainable growth of Guyana.
“We have a chance to put our students on display, and more creatively recognise what are some of the ways in which students themselves can contribute to the development of their country.”
“This is exactly what the STEAM fair speaks to – how well we can use science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics to show creative ways in which we can send a strong message, a strong message to our school population, a message to our community, and a message to the country as a whole in terms of how you can contribute. And in this case, we’re talking about the sustainable development of Guyana.”
Standing out as a significant accomplishment, he relayed that for mathematics this year, they’ve seen some of the projects from other regions that have actually helped schools teach mathematics differently.
“We’ve seen projects over the years in mathematics that schools have actually used to teach mathematics differently, and this year I’ve seen some of the pieces coming from some of the other regions that have completed or concluded their activities. I’ve seen some pieces from Region Three, where students have demonstrated yet again, even at the primary level, that they can, with their teachers, come up with very creative ways of displaying, correcting, changing, or improving some aspect of education or development in their country.”
He also added that this allows students to channel skills within them.
“And so I believe that it will create an opportunity for our young people to be able to demonstrate not just their projects, but all of the other skills that they would have learned over the period of time as they make those presentations.”
Aside from this, he said that we will see how schools have used either science, technology, engineering, arts, or mathematics to help create a better school or environment.
Meanwhile, a wide range of innovative technologies was on display, and this newscast spoke with several exhibitors showcasing their steam-powered products.
The Guyana times caught up with two students – Akeelah Sandy and Shania Brisport who developed an innovative method for extracting crude oil in cases of oil spills.
“So, we know that right now ExxonMobil is going through a lot of production with oil, so sometimes there might be a spill. We came up with a way to use husk to take away from the waterway. It will ease the strain of going abroad to get people to help us, so we think the Government should implement this.”
“Coconut husks are hydrophobic in nature and are a good adsorbent material, meaning it absorbs oil and other substances. It takes approximately two hours.”
Not far off were students – Assyiria Ceasar and Kamran Tularam from the Marian Academy, who developed an efficient project aimed at helping agricultural farmers enhance productivity and streamline their farming practices.
“What we have here is a device that uses a soil tester, could test the moisture of the soil, the amount of light entering the area, and the pH level. Our seed dispenser is made from home-found parts and dispenses the seeds as it drives. I really think the Government should implement this project because some farmers are labouring really hard, and I think a device or contraption like this would really benefit them in agricultural rice planting.”