Inaugural gala to support Growing the STEM will be May 13

It's hard to tell who's braver — the fifth graders who are competing in a game show-style tournament of the minds, or the grown-ups who will be going up against them.

"I think fifth grade was a long time ago for some of these adults," Hayden Meadows Elementary School fifth grader Ryan Snook said. "If their memory is good, they should be better than us, but if not, then I think we’ll win."

Ryan will team up with Fernan STEM Academy's Noelle Webster and Bryan Elementary's Logan White, with Fernan's Easton Helbling serving as alternate, to go head-to-head with 30 local celebrities during Growing the STEM's inaugural "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Auction and Gala. The charitable event will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. May 13 at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. Doors open at 5 p.m.

"We are hoping to fund our programs completely," Growing the STEM Executive Director Whitney Dudley said. 

The Growing the STEM nonprofit currently serves 950 students in the Coeur d'Alene School District through free afterschool activities that supplement school day learning for second-through-eighth-graders and engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics via supportive, peer-led programing. This includes Math is Cool, Mathletes, STEM Club, Chess Club, STEM Book Club, Architecture Club, Aerospace Club and Health and Science Club, as well as STEAM Club, which adds an arts focus to STEM activities.

"There’s nothing but good things," Dudley said. "If you make it fun for them, they don’t even realize that they are learning."

It costs about $50 a kid to run Growing the STEM. Dudley said the annual budget is $100,000. The goal for the gala is $65,000 to fill the gap left by grants that are no longer available.

One of the local celebrities who will go toe to toe with the elementary scholars is Mrs. Kootenai County Stormie Norton. 

“After having kiddos in fifth grade, I’m not so sure," she said. "I’m a little nervous. They can be a little precocious."

Norton went to school in Coeur d'Alene but ultimately graduated from Kellogg High School. Her academic journey had its challenges. That's part of why she supports Growing the STEM.

"I struggled in school for a long time," Norton said. "Seeing these programs that are coming out now that are helping those struggling students, it just hits that soft spot in my heart."

She is excited to participate and hoping she doesn't look too silly if she misses an answer, but it's a risk she's willing to take.

“It’s for the kids,” she said.

Ryan said if he and his peers play to their strong suits, "we will crush the adults."

"I’m good at math so hopefully I can help the team with math questions," he said. "I’m not the best at English and language arts, so I am hoping another fifth grader is better at it."

The deadline to buy tickets is Wednesday. Tickets begin at $90 per person. The gala will also include a social hour, silent auction, live auction and paddle raise.

Tickets and info: growingthestem.org

    Mrs. Kootenai County Stormie Norton is brushing up in preparation for the "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" competition that will be May 13 at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. The event will support the Growing the STEM nonprofit.