Indian Hill Elementary School students earn national accolades in STEM

Fourth grade Discovery students earn third place in Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

The Indian Hill School District congratulates Indian Hill Elementary School fourth grade Discovery students for earning third place in the Elementary Division of the prestigious national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, showcasing exceptional creativity, collaboration, and engineering design skills through a months-long STEM challenge.

The project, which students designed and built throughout January before submitting their final video entry in May, challenged students to create an elaborate chain-reaction machine capable of completing a simple task through a series of interconnected steps. Hosted by the Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation and Creativity, the competition encourages students to apply engineering principles, innovation, and perseverance while embracing the iterative design process.

“In our class, STEM learning is about empowering students to think creatively, persevere through challenges, and work collaboratively to solve complex problems,” said Indian Hill Elementary School Gifted Intervention Specialist Amanda Sopko. “I am so proud of this much-deserved national recognition in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest.”

For Indian Hill’s fourth grade Discovery students, the experience extended far beyond the final award. The Rube Goldberg Machine project challenged students to integrate the district’s 5Cs: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and citizenship. Students were tasked with integrating the 5Cs with the principles of Design Thinking to solve an authentic problem. Throughout the process, students brainstormed, designed, tested, refined, and rebuilt their machine numerous times, learning firsthand that setbacks and revisions are essential parts of innovation.

“Indian Hill’s commitment to STEM excellence begins as they enter the gateway to our district, Indian Hill Primary School, and is expanded and refined all the way through Indian Hill High School,” said Superintendent Dr. Melissa Stewart. “This national recognition demonstrates what is possible when students are empowered to ask questions, embrace challenges, and apply creative thinking to authentic problems. Congratulations to our fourth grade Discovery students and Amanda Sopko for representing Indian Hill with such innovation, perseverance, and excellence on the national stage.”

The award-winning project was a collaborative effort involving the entire fourth grade Discovery class, including students:

• Leah Schweikert
• Lillia Kong 
• Audrey Choi
• Nicholas Khizder
• Jackson Sullivan
• Ben Hayes
• Allison Gu
• Federico Cavallero
• Eva Behrens
• Katia Kirkwood
• Aarav Gade
• Teddy Schreiber
• Livia Pienta
• Sara Shinde

Pictured: As part of the prestigious national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, Indian Hill Elementary School students created a video showcasing their creativity and problem solving. Photo provided.