Events of the arts are meant to propose something greater; inspire people to aspire to be better versions of themselves. They’re  meant to gather people of merit and importance and used to spread their knowledge to those curious. The STEAM Festival is no exception but rather the epitome.

The STEAM Festival is occurring at OHS from five to nine p.m. on March 18. Being organized by the Society of STEM Innovators, industry leaders from parts of the valley will be in attendance and questions posed to these speakers are welcomed.

The addition of a new element in STEM means a lot of riled and differing opinions which will eventually will lead to a heated debate on the subject. AP Biology student, Ethan Scheider , junior, explains his position on the subject.

“I feel that the arts are a little overshadowed nowadays, but when it’s incorporated into such a big program, I just think that it’s a good thing for inclusion,” said Scheider.

Another AP Biology student, Ashley Barron, junior, explains how their might be some contention with the addition of a completely polarizing subject to make its debut.

“I’m glad that they’re including other areas but I don’t see how art can fit into science, technology, engineering, and math,” said Barron

While they don’t agree wholeheartedly with each other, they both provide new insights without directly disagreeing with each other. Or disagreeing on the importance of art and its value in society as it has fundamental merit alongside the sciences.

To know the real connection between the arts and sciences, both points of views have to be acknowledged.. Art student Nathan Randell , gives an in depth response, giving his reasoning why.

“Should it be categorized with the other major intellectual pursuits, I think so. You have to put thought into it, your own amount of creativity into it which isn’t really done with the other fields. Science, technology, engineering, and math all have to do with thinking. The only difference the other four categories and art is that [STEM fields] is trying to improve society as where in art you’re providing entertainment,” said Randell, junior.

STEAM is meant to show the bridging-of-the-gap between the arts and the sciences but Agatha Andersen, Physics teacher, has a different viewpoint. Anderson proposes that both of these groups are more close to being one and the same than different overall.

“I think, that you have to be creative in science technology and all, so it would make sense to bring art into it as well. If art doesn’t include some of the things with science and technology and if it’s just a standalone then that wouldn’t be the complete picture, and that’s the same thing with engineering. Without the creativity of art, it wouldn’t work out well,” Andersen said.

The STEAM Festival is trying to incorporate the overall symbiotic nature of both of these very distinct subjects; that without the other, would function completely differently in society. And so the next logical inclusion of a subject would have to be art; to help foster the creativity of the right-brain dominant, and to help introduce logic into the left.