Inspire HER Stem Spotlight
Silver Knight Science Nominee Daniela Arezina gives a presentation at St. Anthony’s school
This year’s Silver Knight nominee for science, Daniela Arezina, has created something truly special with her InspireHer STEM program. InspireHer is meant to provide exposure to STEM fields for young girls. When asked what made her gravitate towards women in stem specifically, Daniela says this: “If you didn’t know, only 28% of the stem workforce is female. Many young girls lack the early exposure to stem that could spark their interest and guide their future career paths. My project bridges this gap by offering mentorship that prepares these girls for futures in these fields.”
Daniela recruited some of the women here at Cardinal Gibbons (myself included) who are interested and/or involved in stem-related activities- whether that be our EMT program, robotics club, or digital media production (CGTV)- to travel with her to schools in the area and give a presentation on the many wonders of stem. Our first destination was St. Anthony’s, and it was a smash hit.
Daniela Arezina (middle) joined by other stem-inspiring women. Island Masri/Insight
After everyone introduced themselves, the presentation transitioned into its first major component: the EMT pathway program. Our resident EMTs, Ashley Shields and Ariana Gunter-Hatcher, explained how the program worked, including the course guide, class requirements, and the riveting real-world experiences like the clinical and ride alongs. After their presentation, the two brought out a CPR dummy and taught the kids how to administer CPR. The two announced that they would let a few lucky volunteers try it out on the dummy themselves, and every hand shot up. This was the first sign that things were going very well.
Team of St. Anthony’s students attempt to create a gumdrop tower. Island Masri/Insight
Andrea Yanez of CGTV followed the EMT girls, with her in depth presentation on all the skills you will develop in digital media production. The kids look enamored as she detailed the competitions at the stage and national level that they get to participate in as part of CGTV. Followed by this was a shout out to Deveyn Baptist’s and his entirely self developed math-based VR game he created for his own Silver Knights project.
Following CGTV, it was Robotics’ time to shine. There to share about the real, hands-on experiences of the Robotics club was member Lydia Berent, who brought one of the club’s robots for the kids to try out. Just like with the last demonstration, the St. Anthony’s middle school students were tripping over themselves for the opportunity to control the robot. Despite their high energy, they were very careful and respectful of all the equipment, and managed to have a fun time without any unfortunate accidents!
After the St. Anthony’s kids returned to their seats, it was Daniela and I’s turn to present. Daniela had prepared a wonderful presentation that detailed her lifelong dreams of becoming a doctor and the steps she has taken to put herself on that path. I gave a brief presentation introducing neuroscience and all the things you can do with it, and then introduced the many mind games Daniela and I had prepared for the St. Anthony’s kids. The most common one was two pieces of metal that you have to disconnect and reconnect, and then there was a cube held together by a string that the participant must attempt to put it back together. Before I was even done explaining the games, the kids had flooded our presentation table, desperate for a chance to try their luck.
To close out the presentation, Elena Ramos gave a synopsis of engineering and architecture followed by the biggest game yet: a competition between teams where they had five minutes to build a tower-like structure made entirely out of toothpicks and gumdrops. If their tower falls after the time goes off, they lose. While both team’s towers ended up falling, the kids had a great time with the challenge, and no one was even upset that there was no winner.
The field trip to St. Anthony’s was extremely effective in providing exposure to STEM fields, and even gave the students a positive experience associated with STEM that may influence their future career choices. The InspireHer STEM project hopes to have the same effect at St. Coleman’s in the coming weeks, and all schools they visit.