While students encounter STEAM projects daily, they mostly do so by grade level. However, every trimester, these community-wide STEAM events unify them in a common project designed to reinforce Holy Child values. The third and final community STEAM event took place on Tuesday, May 20, and its theme was “pixelization.” 

Every video screen, whether a phone, a computer, or a television, is composed of thousands of light-emitting pixels that create a megapixel that forms the full-color display. Each pixel is individually essential to the bigger picture and a broader group of equally important pixels. What an apt metaphor for community.

Before this project, students read books at various age levels in their technology classes to further their foundational knowledge of pixels and megapixels. To reinforce learning, they also used various technology platforms to create pixel-based images online, to understand the connection between math and pixels, and to turn computer code into pixels.

During the project, homeroom teachers gave each student a laser-cut tile shaped like the school crest. The tiles were gray, white, or blue. Using colored markers, the students individually decorated their wooden crests with simple designs in a slightly different shade of the tile’s color.

Using a visual roadmap, the tiles were glued into a wooden grid of 100 squares in each grade level. Each grid will join grids from other grade levels to reveal a larger Oak Knoll crest consisting of hundreds of pixelated tiles. The piece will become a centennial art installation in the Lower School.

The crest’s 100-grid design symbolizes Oak Knoll’s 100-year legacy. Just as each pixel plays a vital role in an image, each student at Oak Knoll is an essential part of the school’s history and future.

During the hands-on STEAM exercise, the students reflected on the core aspects of an Oak Knoll education.

Community: Every student’s contribution represents how we work together as a whole. Oak Knoll is built on the strength of its people, just as an image is formed by its pixels.

Service: The crest reflects 100 years of students, faculty, and families sharing their light and gifts.

Faith and Values: As a school rooted in faith, Oak Knoll believes in unity, compassion, and making a difference — values represented in this collaborative artwork.

A Lasting Legacy: This project leaves behind a beautiful, tangible symbol of Oak Knoll’s mission, created by the very students who are shaping its next 100 years.