Aside from all the numerous sports and clubs ILS offers students, it also has a welcoming STEAM Program that can provide a guide for young and ambitious freshmen. Although 8th graders must send their applications before they start their freshmen year, they could still do the STEAM electives which are the same lessons. Among the tracks, one track that cannot be underestimated is Engineering.

“What essentially you are doing by joining STEAM is you are getting a better understanding of what specific focus you are interested in. STEAM is about having students get experience in a field, and not about having them commit for the rest of their lives,” explained STEAM Engineering teacher Mr. Ruben Ilizarbe.

There are even students from the STEAM Electives classes that liked what they experienced because they have seen how enticing the Engineering projects were. Essentially, the first is Introduction to Engineering which is a general year of all the different types of engineering with a bit of programming, but regardless of the year you’re in, Mr. Ilizarbe looks to have group building activities to have everyone work with different people and simply have fun.

Even I myself am in the STEAM track, and I would definitely recommend it to those curious 8th graders out there going back and forth on the decision. It may seem scary and too much of a commitment at first, but the relationships you make and the problem solving skills (definition of being an engineer) are something that I have been able to apply in my own life.