Grafenwoehr Elementary School fourth graders, from left to right, Brycon Smith, Alex Threatt and Leo Oliver, ask soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, questions about the Black Hawk helicopter's suspension during the school's annual STEM day at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — The U.S. Army at Tower Barracks was out in force Wednesday to support Department of Defense Education Activity elementary school students for their annual STEM day.
Approximately 325 students from Grafenwoehr Elementary learned at displays from groups like the American Red Cross, the base’s environmental division and units like the 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment. Paratroopers jumping from an airplane also were visible from afar.
STEM is an educational initiative that combines science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Fourth graders from Grafenwoehr Elementary School on Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, raise and lower the barrel of an M777A2 howitzer during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Students from Grafenwoehr Elementary School on Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, raise and lower the barrel of an M777A2 howitzer during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Students from Grafenwoehr Elementary School on Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, learn about local wildlife from a base environmental employee during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Students from Grafenwoehr Elementary School on Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, practice using Army surveying equipment, courtesy of the 15th Engineer Battalion, during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Aicha Camara, center, a second grader at Grafenwoehr Elementary School at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, gets a lesson in explosive ordnance disposal from Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Lewis of the 702nd Ordnance Company during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
A bomb disposal robot from the 702nd Ordnance Company moves toward a simulated bomb at Grafenwoehr Elementary School's annual STEM day in Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Students from Grafenwoehr Elementary School at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, salute members of 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, as they deliver a presentation on helicopter-borne medevac operations during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Students from Grafenwoehr Elementary School at Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, hang from the hoist of a Black Hawk helicopter during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Students from the Defense Department's Grafenwoehr Elementary School on Tower Barracks in Grafenwoehr, Germany, inspect a Black Hawk helicopter belonging to 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, during the school's annual STEM day on Oct. 23, 2024. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Base roads were blocked off as students left school to receive hands-on instruction at the controls of a Black Hawk helicopter variant and behind the sight of a 155 mm howitzer. They also got to observe bomb disposal robots and test surveying equipment.
“This is real-life application of what they’re doing in their classroom,” fourth grade teacher Bill Hunter said.
