At Fordham Prep, STEAM Activities Have a Jesuit Twist

Fordham Prep’s iSTEAM Program is one of the brightest examples of the school’s ability to innovate and evolve over its century-spanning history.

Recently, the Prep came together to celebrate the iSTEAM Program with the annual iSTEAM Expo. The Expo is a night of celebration for students in iSTEAM clubs and classes, showcasing their research for friends, families and the broader Fordham Prep community.

Dr. Raymond Gonzalez, EdD., the Prep’s iSTEAM Coordinator and science faculty member, explained that the program grew out of a shared student and faculty interest in sports analytics.

“When we were creating the iSTEAM program, what was feasible at the time was to focus on iSTEAM in terms of co-curricular or extracurricular clubs. And I had just finished my dissertation in qualitative analytics, so I said, ‘all right, let’s learn a bit more about sports analytics,’” said Dr. Gonzalez.

That first year, Dr. Gonzalez and his sports analytics students focused on campaigning for former Brooklyn Nets player Buck Williams’ induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Since then, the club has focused on Keith Hernandez and Thurman Munson.

While the iSTEAM program began with sports analytics, Dr. Gonzalez, who also runs the school's aviation club, stresses that it has by no means been confined to that realm.

“Outside of my clubs, look at how many we’ve got out there: we started with a cybersecurity club. We actually were part of creating the computer science programs. We added computer science courses via Project Lead The Way in the beginning, and then hired [a dedicated faculty member.]” explained Dr. Gonzalez.

It’s likely that none of the iSTEAM Clubs would exist without iSTEAM Co-coordinator and Fordham Prep Systems Manager, Mario Caraballo.

Caraballo explained that while officially his role involves ensuring all clubs and activities have the necessary supplies and equipment, he also moderates a constantly increasing number of iSTEAM clubs.

“I moderate quite a few of the clubs. The students keep coming to me saying ‘hey, I want to start this club’ and my answer is ‘yes, whatever you need, we’ll figure out a time,’” said Caraballo.

This year, Caraballo has been moderating the eSports team, the 3D Printing Club, the Game Development Club and a new Fordham Prep Streaming Club.

Alan Mora Jr., a sophomore, founded the Streaming Club and explained that rather than streaming video games, as had become traditional in recent years, the club is focused on streaming the students' day-to-day lives, a focus inspired by the successes of streamers such as Brooklyn-born internet personality Kai Cenat.

“Streaming, especially last year and two years back, was really a popular thing that was going on, especially in the United States. I felt that I could take that perspective and make a club about it to help other people understand [the impact],” shared Mora Jr ‘27.

Having spent the first semester teaching his club members about popular types of streaming software, Mora Jr. has turned his focus to creating specialized design overlays for the software, including chat boxes and viewer reactions. He hopes that by next year, the club can become an official live streaming partner of other Fordham Prep activities, such as The Great Ignatian Challenge, the Prep’s annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.

“Hopefully, we can start a stream about the Great Ignatian Challenge, tracking how much food we’ve raised with a countdown on the number of days left,” said Mora Jr.

The Fordham Prep Streaming Club is not alone in utilizing the talents of other iSTEAM Clubs and classes. The collaboration between the Prep’s 3D Printing Club and Game Development Club is one of the best examples of the teamwork that imbues the iSTEAM program.

Louis DiGiorno III, a junior, founded the Game Development Club and explained how the 3D Printing Club assisted in the creation of “FP Ultimate Brawl,” a video game in which Fordham Prep’s mascot and rival Xavier High School’s mascot engage in animated combat.

“I’ve been doing game design for five or six years now, but when the club first started, I just jumped into it thinking ‘okay, let’s see if I can teach people to make games.’ Last year, we finished the first iteration of FP Ultimate Brawl,” DiGiorno III said.

DiGiorno III explained that while he took the lead on the creative process, it was by no means a solo effort.

“We had four guys, three freshmen and a sophomore, who were mostly doing the work, just figuring out how the game should play, and then we had Colin Avery of the 3D Printing Club do the 3D models and things you actually see,” said DiGiorno III.

In addition to working alongside the Game Development Club, the 3D Printing Club has spent time giving back to the broader community, as Junior Kevin Boateng shared.

“Every year, Fordham does a Christmas toy drive, so we’re trying to see if we can create 3D printed toys to hand out to people during the toy drive. We’ve started with a few draft models, but for the most part, we’ll see how it goes next year,” said Boateng ’26.

The desire to use iSTEAM to support those less fortunate is not limited to the 3D Printing Club. Connor Gray ’26, president of the Greenhouse Club explained that when the club is done growing its collard greens, tomatoes, beans and lettuce — as well as finished harvesting fruit from its two banana trees and pineapple plants — the fresh produce is donated to POTS, a Bronx-based community resource center, that Fordham Prep has collaborated with for years.            

Gray ’26 shared his experience dropping off the Greenhouse Club’s produce.

“It was really cool. We got big plastic bags, and then we obviously had to get all the plants harvested, and [then we walked over to POTS.] It wasn't a far walk, though, and the four of us met a nice lady at the front, and she was just very grateful that we delivered [produce] to her,” said Gray ’26.

Looking ahead to his senior year, Gray ’26 wanted to diversify their harvest.

“The last few times we donated, we had an overwhelming amount of collard greens, and we want to, I would say, spice it up a little more, incorporate more tomatoes. Then we would also like to try maybe more complex things to grow, like watermelons, like pineapple, as I said. And then bananas as well. Just a good variety of plants that we can get back to the community,” Gray ’26 added.

The students in the iSTEAM Clubs' focus on serving their community is no coincidence, but rather the result of the “I” in iSTEAM.

While some may have assumed the “I” is meant to emphasize the internet or some other online connectivity, it actually stands for “Ignatian” and, like everything at Fordham Prep, it always comes first. Ignatian refers to St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, of which Fordham Prep is a member school.

Jesuit Philosophy and spirituality emphasize finding God in all things; the idea that everything in the world, whether it has to do with religion, science or anything in between, can bring one closer to the good.

In using their STEAM-based gifts and interests to help the less fortunate, Fordham Prep iSTEAM students show that no matter what your passion is, you can always make the world a brighter place.