Columbiana High School student Alyssa Newton (left) enjoys her STEAM project and official business, an ice cream truck, with fellow students Mitchell Davidson and Brittany Mook.

COLUMBIANA — A new ice cream truck making its way around the city is actually the result of a high school student’s STEAM project.

STEAM is a curriculum that stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math, and student Alyssa Newton turned to the business as part of her final entrepreneur project.

STEAM teacher Patrisha Missos said Newton’s parents encouraged her and her younger sister to invest in the ice cream truck which their father bought for them and put the money earned through sales toward their college expenses.

Alyssa plans to attend Youngstown State University to major in education, and wants to teach math at the college level at some point, Missos said.

“Alyssa is definitely a one of a kind student. She is very driven. She goes all out one everything she does. She gives 110 percent on everything,” she said.

Newton and her mother, Melissa Newton, approached the city’s planning commission in May requesting permission for the ice cream truck, known as Lovies Ice Cream and Cool Treats, to set up shop at the family’s auto parts business.

Melissa and her husband own and operate Newton’s Service Station at 601 N. Main St.

The commission approved the request, with the truck allowed to operate there between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. on the state Route 46 side only.

The truck has already set up shop in other areas of the county, with permission, Missos said.

Alyssa said in her final STEAM essay that she spent the last nine weeks of the class finishing the ice cream truck “from top to bottom.”

That work consisted of removing all of the existing countertops and equipment in order to have better access. The next step was to install cabinets, which Alyssa and her sister had to custom order, along with sinks and supplies to get started.

Alyssa’s grandfather, who is retired, helped her install everything before the first show. The cabinet installation alone took six days, she wrote.

“During my experience renovating the trailer I realized that I could never flip a home,” she joked. “I am not patient enough, especially when it came to laminating a counter.”

The hard work paid, off, though, and she was finally able to operate Lovies for the first time — but not without a few learning experiences along the way.

Alyssa said in her essay that they purchased enough ice cream mix to serve 1,500 people, but only ended up serving 100, resulting in a loss of any potential profit.

It also didn’t help that the machine would shut off the breaker after five minutes of running, she added.

The problems were solved and she was finally able to operate Lovies successfully. She treated her fellow students to ice cream and a tour of the truck on her final project presentation.

“She put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that,” Missos said.

Columbiana Superintendent Don Mook said he is impressed with how Alyssa took an idea and classroom experiences and turned it into a full size model with a business plan.

“While every student may not actually launch a business out of our STEAM program, we know the internship opportunities and guidance provided in these classes are getting kids to think about the bigger picture, and where their future opportunities may be,” he said in a press release.

kwhite@mojonews.com