Mars Area Elementary School will hold a “Steel City Showcase: An Art & Innovation Showcase” from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 22.

PARKING/SHUTTLE BUSES — Additional parking for parents/guardians and other visitors will be available at Mars Area High School, where shuttle buses to and from Mars Area Elementary School will be provided from 5:45 to 8:15 p.m.

The event will include various interactive exhibits, games and other activities, including Pittsburgh Shrinky Dink Keychains, Model Magic Eat’n Park Cookie Magnets, Glowing Face Paint, Collaborative Mosaic Art, Silk Screening, Pickle Personality Sewing, Pittsburgh Boat Regatta, Fossil Discovery, Pittsburgh Boat Regatta, Incline Race, Puppets in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fireworks Sticks, Seed Planting, a Pittsburgh Lung Demonstration, Lucky Duck Game, Robot Challenges, and more.

The showcase will also highlight artworks and projects created by students in Grades 2-4 and all centered around a Pittsburgh theme:

• Eat’n Park Clay Cookies (Grade 2) — In their Art classes, second-graders used clay to mold their own version of Eat’n Park cookies. In their Library/Media Studies classes, the students joined in a stretch-a-sentence activity, answering the question, “What Makes Us Smile?”; and, in their STEAM classes, second-graders used the ChatterPix app to give a voice to their cookies.
  
  
• Zoo Animals Paper Mache & Coding (Grade 3) — Third-graders used recycled materials to create paper mache sculptures of animals that might be found at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. In their STEAM classes, the students took pictures of their creations, then, using the OctoStudio coding app, added the images to background photos of their animals’ habitats, where they moved the animals around to interact with different elements of the environments such as predators/prey, food sources, etc.
  
  
• Pickle Personality Pillows Sewing + Coding (Grade 4) — After learning about Pittsburgh’s annual PicklesBURGH Festival, fourth-graders were introduced to the basics of sewing as they used a needle and thread to create felt “pickle” pillows. In their STEAM classes, the students used the OctoStudio coding app to show off their pickles’ personalities.
  
  
• Duquesne Incline Landscapes (Grade 2) — In their Art classes, second-graders experimented with different painting techniques as they recreate the view from atop the Duquesne Incline. In their STEAM classes, the students added slots and tabs to allow their incline cable car to move up and down the tracks.
• Clay Pierogies + 3D Pen Accessories + Trading Cards (Grade 4) — Fourth-graders used clay slabs to cut and shape their own versions of the Pittsburgh Pirates Pierogies mascots. The students then used pipe cleaners to attach hands and feet, designed on “Shrinky Dinks” paper, to their pierogies. In their STEAM classes, the students used 3D pens to make accessories, such as hats, sunglasses and bags, for their pierogies. In addition, the students named their pierogies using alliteration and designed Pierogi Trading Cards.
  
  
• Pittsburgh Building Relief Printmaking — Third-graders traced images of notable Pittsburgh buildings and landmarks onto styrofoam to make printing plates. Using ink and brayers, the students then created multiple prints, before adding slots and feet to allow their building to stand up so that they could be used a backdrops for second-graders’ Clay Polar Bears & Stop-Motion projects.
  
  
• Clay Polar Bears & Stop-Motion — Second-graders learned about polar bear habitats and behaviors before sculpting polar bear figures out of clay. The students then created stop-motion animation videos, imagining that their polar bears had escaped the zoo and were wandering around Pittsburgh, using the Pittsburgh Building Relief prints designed by third-graders as backdrops.
  
  
• Family Hockey Puck Upcycle Challenge — Mars Area Elementary School students and their families were invited to join in a Hockey Puck Upcycle Challenge, asking them to transform a hockey puck into a work of art, a toy, a game, etc. The creations will be on display and voting will take place at the Steel City Showcase. 

Numerous other works and projects designed by Mars Area Elementary School students will be showcased at the event, which will also offer a myriad of fun facts and photo opportunities. In addition, participants will be able to enjoy Eat’n Park Smiley cookies and meet several surprise special guests.

Mars Planet Foundation is the event sponsor. For more information, call (724) 625-3161.