STEM Expo empowers Houston ISD students

By Tina Nazerian     3/13/13 7:00pm

 

Houston Independent School District students from three high schools and one middle school had the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and college life on campus March 7-8 at the STEM Exposition hosted by Rice Empower. 

The students immersed themselves in both life at a college campus and STEM fields as they watched professors demonstrate their work at interactive stops, ate at a servery, listened to student advisers talk about their personal college experiences and engaged in a Marshmallow Challenge run by the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, event coordinator Valerie Bolanos said. 

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Bolanos said she reached out to HISD schools with low school ratings and more schools requested participation than open spots. The first four schools to respond were able to participate in the program, Bolanos, a Martel College senior, said. 

The participating students had an at-risk background and had to meet a GPA requirement to attend, Bolanos said. 

"Even though they're the best kids in their class ... that doesn't mean anything," Bolanos said. "Most of these schools have really high dropout rates, and [the kids are] never exposed to college." 

Bolanos said events like this help students see that STEM fields are accessible to them. 

"I think it's really important to get rid of that intimidation factor," Bolanos said. 

Rice Empower also holds school and community discussions, and one of its goals is to make sure some of those school dialogues occur at the schools that come to campus, Bolanos said. In addition to programs like the STEM expo, Rice Empower also sends speakers to HISD schools, according to Bolanos. 

Rice Empower, the brainchild of alumni Kareem Ayoub (Lovett '12) and Thierry Rignol (Duncan '12), began three years ago with the goal of addressing the issue of science and the public, Rice Empower President Trent Navran said. Since then, the organization has expanded into a nongovernmental organization called World Stem Works with chapters at other universities including Duke, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Texas, Navran said. 

Navran said he hopes the program inspires these students to go to college. 

"One of the most touching things was a couple kids came up to me and said 'I really want to apply to Rice. I really want to go to college now,'" Navran said. "That was great to see." 

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