Rockford — If you’d seen all the bobsleds, curling stones, snowboarders and skiers that recently filled Cannonsburg Elementary, you’d be forgiven for doing a double take and asking, “Is that a school or a miniature Olympic Stadium?”
As the 2026 Winter Games started to wind down, Cannonsburg students, teachers and parents came together to celebrate with the STEAM Olympics, a school-wide event that challenged students to apply science, technology, engineering, art and math concepts to downscaled versions of Olympic events.
From building and testing curling stones and bobsleds to assembling mini snowboarders and skiers out of pipe cleaner and popsicle sticks, students had plenty of opportunities to make the Olympics their own.
“We want to focus on celebrating the Olympics and learning through the experience with math and science,” said Cannonsburg Principal Teya Cotter. “It’s just about bringing it to life for our kids here at Cannonsburg.”
While leading SNN on a tour of the various STEAM Olympics stations, Cotter explained what kids were up to at each one. Some students were launching handmade “skiers” down ramps, while others played at being athletes themselves, curling stones on desks and floors or fashioning devices to launch ping-pong balls at targets on the wall.
“They’re doing bobsleds, they’re doing curling (and) making their stones different weights to reduce and increase friction,” Cotter said. “They’re doing some trial and error to problem-solve.”
Bobsleds, Curling, More
In one classroom, fourth-graders Ryan Pratt, Eddy Smagacz and Dean Kosanke were hard at work on a ski jumping challenge, which tasked students with assembling a miniature skier that could complete a jump without tipping over.
“We are working on making a skier that can jump as far off the table as possible,” Ryan said as he and his teammates set about putting their skier together.
Their strategy?
“Making it as good as possible,” Ryan said. “And then, on the skis, putting as much weight as we can on the back, so it elevates more and goes faster.”
Charlotte Dondzila, her twin sister, Emma and their friend Harper Chase, all fifth-graders, had just finished their time at the ski jump station.
“Our person kept falling,” Charlotte said of their skier.
The trio hoped to have more luck with curling. They tightly packed together aluminum foil curling stones, filling them with pennies to weigh them down. Then they flattened out the bottom, attached a pipe cleaner handle, and slid them across the table at a “house,” or target area.
Harper said one thing she learned was the importance of weight distribution when it comes to motion, both with skiing and with curling.
STEAMy, Teamy Lens
The fifth-graders appreciated having the ability to learn about STEAM through an Olympic lens.
“It’s fun because people know what the Olympics is, and (this is) different kinds of variations of it, but it’s more on the science-y side,” Harper said.
In another corner of the school, first-grader Sylvia Fredline proudly held up the snowboarder figure she’d just made with her classmates.
‘We want to focus on celebrating the Olympics and learning through the experience with math and science.’
— Cannonsburg Principal Teya Cotter
She explained how she put the thing together: “I taped a pipe cleaner onto a straw, and then another pipe cleaner to a straw, and then another one.”
Reid Huizenga, another first-grader, was also proud of the snowboarding figure he and classmate Jonas Erlandson created using popsicle sticks, tape and pennies for weight.
Reid noted that he and Jonas won most of their races against other groups, but his favorite part of the day was learning “how to work together as a team.”
Fourth-grade teacher Lauren Arnett helped bring the STEAM Olympics to Cannonsburg for the first time back in 2022. She led the effort to bring it back, enlisting parents to come in and help oversee the various activities.
She said the event was a success.
“I think it’s been great,” Arnett said. “It’s something that’s fun, and I’ve seen every kid shine.”
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