At Collège Champittet, students are reaching for the stars with this year's STEAM theme: 'Teamwork in Space.' The annual program, powered by the school's collaboration with MIT, challenges learners to design sustainable space villages capable of supporting life beyond Earth. This interdisciplinary approach sparks curiosity, fosters creativity, and develops essential collaboration skills by applying science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics to real-world—and off-world—scenarios. The program kicked off with an inspiring conference led by analogue astronaut and Collège Champittet alumna Dr. Eleonore Cassandra Poli. She shared her professional journey, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, teamwork, and self-belief, stating, 'Even if I am going to fail, I am going to try. The biggest challenge I faced was to believe in myself.' Her visit made the connection between classroom learning and extraordinary careers tangible for students, with one Grade 10 learner noting how inspiring it was to see a former student achieving such remarkable success.
Students in Grades 9 and 10 have launched into hands-on preparations for the upcoming STEAM Fair, tackling initial challenges like constructing geometric shapes from straws and testing thermal insulation materials. These exercises build toward two major competitions. In the Interclass Competition, students will design adaptive space stations engineered to survive extreme environments such as Mars, deserts, or underwater. Concurrently, the Inter-team Competition requires each team to engineer a critical module to power the station's functioning. The primary school students are also deeply engaged, recently exploring microbiology through workshops led by guest expert Nathalie Maury, Head of the Microbiology and Swimming Pool Sector at Geneva's Consumer and Veterinary Affairs Service. Furthermore, a select group of students will represent the school at the international Nord Anglia Education STEAM Festival in Dublin this May. The festival, themed 'Sparks of Ireland – Igniting Curiosity Through STEAM,' will offer immersive experiences at venues like Microsoft Dublin’s Dream Space and the Explorium – National Sport & Science Centre, accompanied by Champittet educators Mrs. Jenifer Allaz and Mrs. Alice Keeling.
