Cashmere Middle School STEM Expo brings learning to life

CASHMERE — Wearing a ship captain’s hat beside his blue-ribbon project on the Titanic, 8-year-old Jason Asbury drew a steady stream of visitors at the Cashmere Middle School STEM Expo on March 31.

Around him, the commons filled with conversation as students explained their projects, parents asked questions, and volunteers guided hands-on demonstrations that stretched well beyond the classroom.

The event, centered on seventh- and eighth-grade students, also welcomed participants from Vale Elementary this year, including several science fair winners whose projects were displayed on stage.

Nearby, Vale student Madyson Devery invited visitors to test a different kind of hypothesis. Her project compared sugar content in foods including mango, apple, sweet potato, pear, pineapple and russet potato. Using iodine spray on freshly cut samples, she looked for color changes that would indicate starch levels. Madyson predicted the mango would come out on top, but one result stood out — the pear didn’t change color at all.

Across the room, learning unfolded in real time.

For eighth-grade science teacher Stephanie Ball, the goal is to make those connections visible.

“We love having the community come in here,” she said. “Our goal is to keep expanding, and someday we want it to be K–12.”

That sense of connection showed up across the commons as students moved between stations and conversations.

At one table, a representative from Crunch Pak fielded questions about how fruit snack packs are made. When a student tried to challenge him with a math problem, he flipped the script.

“5x squared equals 10. What’s x?” he asked, sending the student back to work on their own question.

Moments later, he was back to explaining the production line, describing how trays are filled, sealed, and preserved using modified atmosphere packaging.

“We flush the area with nitrogen first,” he said, explaining how removing oxygen helps slow bacterial growth and extend shelf life.

At a table hosted by the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, students explored the role insects play in local orchards. Specimens of common pests and beneficial insects were displayed under glass, while a tank of Madagascar hissing cockroaches drew a steady crowd. Some students kept their distance, while others were brave enough to hold the three-inch insects as presenters explained how bugs, both harmful and helpful, affect the region’s tree fruit industry.

At another table, students examined skulls and track casts from animals found in the region, learning how to distinguish species like cougar, bobcat, coyote and raccoon by the shape and symmetry of their prints.

Hands-on learning continued throughout the space, from earthquake-resistant paper structures tested on shaking tables to salmon dissections and displays exploring the physics behind sports like football, volleyball, archery and soccer, labeled “fútbol” on some projects. Solar-powered robots moved across tables, while small vehicles made from CDs and mousetraps snapped forward as stored energy released through tightly wound string.

Taken together, the night was less about any single project than the act of figuring things out. Students asked questions, tested ideas, and adjusted their thinking as they went, often explaining their discoveries to the next person who stopped by.

For a few hours inside the middle school commons, science felt less like a subject and more like something shared, built one conversation at a time.

And in a valley defined by orchards, rivers and seasons of steady work, the throughline felt familiar. These were the next problem-solvers, the next builders, the next stewards of a place that depends on curiosity as much as tradition.

They weren’t waiting for the future. They were already practicing for it.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media