Draper Elementary fifth-grader Maisy Jefferies was excited to go to school one evening in late spring.

“I can do my own clay,” she said, adding that she wanted to make a vase out of it.

She was with her dad, Jonathan, and her third-grade sister, June.

Maisy had already showed her dad her pumpkin artwork she created out of pastels which was on display. She had created it in the fall after learning about negative and positive space in art.

“I’m hoping to learn more shading so I can make my art look more realistic,” she said. “And do Spheros; they’re fun.”

Principal Ronnie Mulqueen said Draper Elementary’s STEAM night combined education and community.

“STEAM night is a good hands-on experience for the kids and families to get engaged in while bringing our community’s families together,” she said. “They’re able to learn and explore and have fun.”

Many of the activities came from the Canyons School District’s STEAM kits that have dozens of challenges prompting students to ask questions, analyze data, investigate and recognize similarities and patterns. They could develop and test solutions and explore learning using tools.

“We’ve got Legos and the Makey Makeys and the Virtual Reality goggles,” she said. “But because we bring art into it, it’s not just STEM. We included the students’ artwork as an art show. Every kid has one, if not two, art pieces displayed around school. It’s part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson program which ties art into grade specific curriculum and with our Chinese dual immersion program.”

On the walls, there were renditions of Delicate Arch where fourth-grade students learned about Utah’s national parks and dark sky reserves to walls covered with younger students’ tissue paper butterflies after they learned the life cycles of butterflies.

Kevin Houstman was with his second-grade son, Lucas, taking in the art on the gallery stroll.

“We’ve seen his Chinese fan and his coral reef art; they’re fantastic,” Houstman said as his son created with LEGOs. “It’s fun seeing the kids’ work on display and then having some STEAM activities to do together.”