Elementary · Middle · High School — one pathway
The Pennridge STEM Initiative connects every grade level in the district through hands-on exploration days, an annual challenge-based science fair, and student mentorship — a pathway built to outlive the students who started it.
Live: two-source wave interference. Drag either source.
01 — The pathway
Most STEM programs are islands. PSI is a pipeline: a fifth grader who makes slime at an Exploration Day becomes an eighth grader with a project board, becomes a junior running the station she once visited.
Grades K–5
Rotating hands-on stations run by high school volunteers. Students cycle through several disciplines in a single morning — the point is one great first memory of science, not a score.
Grades 6–8
The annual middle school challenge. Solo or teams of up to three, projects built ahead of the event and judged against that year's theme. Physical builds, mathematical models, and theoretical work all count.
Top finishers may earn an invitation to compete at the high school fair.
Grades 9–12
The advanced division, themed alongside the middle school contest and judged by participating teachers and faculty. Top three projects are recognized at closing. Students who aren't competing mentor, judge-shadow, and run the elementary stations.
02 — Try it now
These are the real Exploration Day experiments, simulated in your browser with the same physics and chemistry the elementary students will see on a folding table. Go ahead — break something.
Station 01
Acid–base reaction · stoichiometry
The equation. NaHCO₃ + CH₃COOH → CO₂ + H₂O + NaCH₃COO. One mole of each reactant makes one mole of carbon dioxide, so whichever runs out first caps the eruption. Balance them and you get the biggest foam column for the least mess — which is exactly the lesson.
Station 02
Non-Newtonian fluid · shear thickening
Drag through the cornstarch — start slowly.
Why it happens. Cornstarch grains float in water with a thin lubricating layer between them. Push slowly and they slide past each other. Push fast and the water can't escape the gaps quickly enough — the grains jam into a packed lattice and the mixture answers like a solid. Newton's laws, in a bowl.
Station 03
Superposition · interference on a string
Superposition. Two waves meeting on the same string don't collide — they add. Set the
phase to 0° and crests stack into a wave twice as tall (constructive). Set it to 180° and
every crest lands on a trough, flattening the string to nothing (destructive). The energy
isn't gone; it's redistributed.
Hear it. Turn on sound and you hear the yellow curve — the single resultant tone your
ear would actually receive from two sources, since superposing waves arrive as one. Its
loudness is 2·cos(φ/2), so it swells to full at 0° and falls to true silence at 180°, the
same cancellation noise-cancelling headphones perform. Wavelength sets the pitch:
shorter wave, higher note.
03 — The fair
Each year PSI student leadership sets a challenge theme with faculty advisors. The theme points you at a real-world problem — it never dictates how you solve it.
Middle school contest (grades 6–8) or the high school challenge & showcase (9–12).
Compete individually, or in a team of up to three. Both are judged on the same rubric.
Projects are prepared ahead of the fair. You bring the finished work, the data, and the board.
Participating teachers and faculty score against criteria written for that year's theme.
Top three high school projects are recognized. Middle school winners may advance to the high school fair.
Registration
One form for every division. Tell us your grade, your teammates if you have them, and roughly what you're thinking about building — you can change the project later.
04 — Rollout
PSI is built to become permanent. Here's the sequence from first event to district tradition.
Year One
Year Two
Year Three +
05 — Student leadership
Most student organizations die with their founders. PSI trains its replacements on purpose: next year's officers shadow this year's event before they ever run one.
Sets direction, owns the annual theme, speaks for PSI to the district.
Runs event operations and steps in wherever the fair needs weight.
Keeps the archive — documentation, resources, and the record that makes year two easier.
Manages funding, sponsor relationships, and the budget for every event.
High school students can serve as mentors, station leads, organizers, and judges' assistants — work that pairs naturally with Key Club and National Honor Society service requirements. Additional officer roles open as participation grows.
06 — Who's behind it
Co-founder
Co-founder
Co-founder · Student Council Vice President
PSI is co-hosted with Pennridge Student Council, which allocates funding to the event. Support is also sought from local businesses, engineering companies, and the Pennridge School District itself.
Sponsorship conversations are underway — including with engineering firms such as Natoli Engineering. Interested in backing a district-wide STEM program? We'd like to talk.
Become a sponsor →07 — Questions
No. The elementary division has no scoring at all, and the contests judge how well you investigated a question — not how advanced you already were. A careful experiment with a clear result beats a complicated one you can't explain.
Yes. Solo entries and teams of up to three are judged on the same criteria.
Themes are chosen each year by PSI student leadership with faculty advisors, and point students toward a real-world problem. The current theme will be posted here once it's set — there's also active discussion about allowing a free-range category.
Dates and locations for the first year are being finalized with the district. Put your name on the sign-up form and you'll hear first.
Plenty. Run an elementary station, mentor a middle school team, help organize the event, or join the leadership team. It's real service work and it's how most officers start.
PSI is seeking faculty advisors, judges, and host schools. The founders are looking to work alongside district leadership to make this a recurring program — feedback and guidance are genuinely welcome.
08 — Get involved
Enter the fair, run a station, or mentor a younger team.
Open the sign-up form ↗ Teachers & staffServe as a faculty advisor, a judge, or a host school for an event.
Email the founders → SponsorsBack prizes, scholarships, or supplies for a district-wide STEM pipeline.
Start a conversation → FamiliesFind out when Exploration Days and the fair are scheduled near you.
Join the mailing list ↗