Hinckley Elementary School teacher uses grant to STEAM forward

GRANGER TWP. — Katie Massaro's 2020-21 school year was dramatically impacted by COVID-19 before she even stepped foot into a classroom. Massaro, an art teacher at Hinckley Elementary School since 2009, was temporarily reassigned to Highland Middle School just weeks before the first day of school. She didn't let that hinder her plans, however, when in the fall she applied for and received a grant she called "Putting the 'A' in STEAM." The grant, which totaled just over $900 and was awarded by the Highland Foundation, afforded Massaro the opportunity to incorporate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) related lessons into her art curriculum for all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students. Using specialty markers and common items such as a battery, rubber band, masking tape, a berry basket and a motor, among other things, Massaro helps guide students into making a device that can function and draw on its own. "I do it at the end of the quarter and I tell the students, 'Now that you've had a quarter of art, it's time for you to make a machine that makes your art projects for you,' " Massaro said. "I told the students, 'Your marker has to make a mark without you touching it.' I let them figure it out a little bit and I give them a couple of clues here and there. There is a way to do it that I know of, but that's not the only way." Massaro said the reason for the grant was to provide each student with the needed materials and prevent sharing due to COVID-19. Theresa Wright, executive director of the Highland Foundation, an independent, nonprofit community organization that supports enrichment programs for Highland Schools, called Massaro the "perfect" grant applicant and said the attitude in the face of the pandemic and rapid change made herself and her mission stand out. "She's outside of the box all the time," Wright said. "At the time when people were saying, 'I can't do this,' or 'I can't do that' (because of the pandemic) and some people were talking about what they couldn't do, she came up with (ways to make it work). (This project) was really creative, low-budget (and) it ticked all the boxes." One of the overarching messages that Massaro said she hopes the project imprints on students is that just because a class deals with a certain subject — specifically a STEAM subject — it doesn't mean there can't be elements of another subject incorporated in. "I think when we're in school we get so pigeon-holed into thinking, 'I do art in art class, music in music class, sports in P.E.,'" Massaro said. "I love to show students that you don't have to stay in these boxes. I like to show (the students) that it all works together." Another project she did with her eighth graders was one in which they were tasked with making a card with LED lights. Involved in that, Massaro said, was learning to how to make a circuit and incorporate it with the lights on the card. "It was very frustrating sometimes for them and I couldn't always give them the answer," Massaro said. "They really had to figure it out and create an understanding of a parallel circuit and figure out not only how the circuit works but (understand that) art has to be both form and function." Nearing the end of her first and only year doing these projects with her middle school students, Massaro said the response has been mostly positive and students are learning to think outside those boxes. Even when this year is done and she goes back to Hinckley Elementary, Massaro said she hopes to continue doing projects such as this and reinforcing the idea that elements of different subjects can be incorporated into whatever type of work is being done. Massaro actually previously had a grant approved while she was at the elementary school that allowed her to create a "makerspace" in the school. She hopes to continue use that space with whatever comes next. "I have a lot of little tricks up my sleeve to do down there," Massaro said. Contact reporter Jack Kopanski at (330) 721-4063 or jkopanski@medina-gazette.com.