Teens help organization move STEM learning online

The pandemic is no match for STEM- savvy teens. When nonprofit leaders Karthik Karuppiah, 17, and Ujjayi Pamidantam, 16, realized that their in- person activities would be suspended because of COVID- 19, they quickly reassessed how they would spread their message.

The high schoolers are leaders of the 2- year- old Human-Who, which aims to spread awareness of STEM ( science, technology, engineering and math) education. Karuppiah of Coppell, Texas, and Pamidantam of Somerset, New Jersey, organized a free virtual summer camp for nearly 1,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Four weeklong sessions were held in August via Zoom.

With eight existing chapters in north Texas and 30 globally, Human Who would normally be spreading its message on social media and conducting workshops, meetings and competitions in high schools. But over the summer, high school volunteers for the nonprofit virtually taught 10 different subjects, including robotics, entrepreneurship and premed immersion, as well as computational math and digital art.

Karuppiah says his passion for STEM education is rooted in practicality as well as interest. “STEM is just taking over every single field,” he says. “There is so much innovation. Not everyone’s going for a Ph. D., but it’s clear that you need some type of comprehensive knowledge in this field to really be successful in what you’re doing.”