Bringing STEM to life!
Two Dundalk sisters brought science to life for the young pupils of St. Malachy’s Girls and Boys school as part of Engineers Week.
Caroline Rocks, who works for biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, helped organise the event with her sister Stephanie Rocks, who is a 6th Class teacher at St. Malachy’s Boys.
Caroline and her colleague Siobhan Anglim inspired 104 6th Class students with a series of STEM challenges.
Caroline is past pupil (1992) of St. Malachy’s Girls School and was a recent recipient of the Early Career Engineer of the Year 2019.
AbbVie’s Back to School for STEM programme is a schools’ outreach which promotes the job opportunities widely available in Ireland for those holding STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) qualifications.
Students on the day at St Malachy’s
Girls’ and Boy’s school had the opportunity to participate in a number of engineering-focused activities and experiments which helped to outline the key skills that students can acquire by studying STEM subjects.
Both Caroline and Siobhan gave students a glimpse view into benefits of working in a STEM and engineering-focused jobs during their time with the students.
‘A supply of STEM graduates is crucial to the future of the Irish economy, particularly its key pharma and biopharma sectors,’ said Caroline.
But concerns have emerged that students are not considering extremely positive career paths that could be available to them in the life sciences and biopharma sectors.
She added that Ireland’s ambition to be a significant global player in the life sciences, tech and related sectors can only be fulfilled if young students were excited about science, engineering, space and a host of other STEM-related activities.
‘ The school STEM visits aim to ‘demystify’ these subjects particularly as they are often seen as being more difficult or more relevant to boys than girls.’
‘It is an important perspective at a time when, according to recent research 64 per cent of girls in Irish secondary schools say they don’t know enough about STEM while 26 per cent of all students believe there are easier ways of getting CAO points than choosing to study STEM.’
‘One of the biggest misconceptions about STEM subjects is that they are too difficult to get into, and that they can hinder your progress. The truth is that studying STEM subjects strengthens your options and can set you up for multiple life-long career paths.’
Pictures: Conor Healy