Students at Seven Stones Community School learned about STEM on Thursday afternoon. The session aimed to inspire interest in science, technology, engineering and math among young girls.
“As also a STEM girl, I figured, why not do this with the elementary schools? Because these are the formative ages where girls decide whether or not they enjoy science or they like math,” Lois Arokoyo, vice president of United Nations Associations in Canada’s Regina branch said.
Arokoyo spoke with the Grade 7 and 8 students about what STEM is and what different careers in STEM look like. The young women also had the opportunity to try their hand at building some bridges of their own.
“It was really great, I created different types of bridges with different types of designs and some of them worked and some of them didn’t,” 12-year-old, Lalandra Keewatin said.
“It was really exciting when we had to build bridges with blocks, because we had to find out the proper placement, how to make the structure look nice, and how to make it stable enough for things to drive across,” 13-year-old, Konstance Kraemer said.
The interest from students was promising for organizers, who shared that while more women are choosing careers in STEM, there is still a long way to go.
“We know that research shows that women are incredibly underrepresented, in the STEM fields and STEM careers. So we believe it’s really important to, give access and opportunities to girls, including gender diverse and underrepresented students,” Amanda Brace, student achievement coordinator for Regina Public Schools said.
Brace went on to say that Regina Public Schools is working to add stem initiatives to schools across the city, for students ranging from kindergarten to grade twelve.
“Even walking into the school today, we saw students podcasting, engaging and collaborating with each other, 3D printing. so really we just want to see that because it leads to success when students can engage and we will continue to advocate for that,” Brace said.
For the students who took part in the educational session, there proved to be some interest piqued.
“Being here makes me more inspired by science. And now that I think of it, I kind of want to be a scientist when I grow up,” 14-year-old, Dije Osmane said.
“One of my plans for when Im older is to be a marine biologist or to work with particles,” 13-year-old, Mila Pontigo-Pina said.
It’s a step in a positive direction for those working to ensure more voices are heard.
“I have worked in educational technology for quite some time, and it’s something I’m passionate about, but something I’ve noticed is that there are voices missing. There’s voices that aren’t represented and there’s perspectives missing. And so I really think it’s important to advocate for that, to advocate for diversity,” Brace said.
For Arokoyo, its promising to see the next generation of women take an interest in the field that captured her heart.
“Science is like this world of creativity, imaginations like this possibility for more. And there’s a lot of problem solving too. And as someone who loves math, again, I’m a nerd. It’s okay, I love math. And so I might as well just go for something that I love and I enjoy,” Arokoyo said.
