A FORCE FOR STEM
RPI holds Black Family Technology Awareness Day
TROY, N.Y. >> RPI held its 18th annual Black Family Technology Awareness Day on Saturday, as dozens of students from the Capital Region arrived on campus to hear stories, learn lessons in STEM and experience hands- on activities.
Al-Jalil Gault, a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was one of the several dozen volunteers Saturday. He’s the president of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students.
“We’ve been trying to incorporate a lot of outreach and enhance our relationships to the nearby schools recently, so this is a really exciting opportunity for us,” said Gault.
Gault led a group of volunteers as the organization participated in Black Family Technology Awareness Day for the first time.
The project high school students worked on in Gault’s classroom dealt with creating a family space for Troy Farmer’s market customers.
“We wanted to have a challenge that was local. One that hopefully they can relate to. If anything, it allows them to consider what it means to create a
place for people” said Gault. “Hopefully this enhances their interest in their own community and the way the community is shaped because that’s really an important thing to our organization. We think critically about our environments and how they exist for all people.”
The event kicked off with remarks from RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson, James Spencer and U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, each encouraging students to “be a force for STEM.” The Star Wars-inspired theme were printed on T-shirts and programs.
Then, workshops began as students signed up for whatever interested them the most.
A popular workshop called Domino Toppling featured RPI freshman Lily Hevesh, who has over 400 million YouTube views for her domino art.
Hevesh shared some of her videos with a group full of students, while fellow domino artist Shane O’Brien explained how STEM plays a roll in dominos. Other workshops in- cluded a Hula Hoop Challenge, the Body Electric and the Human Dimensions of Game Design.
For Gault, who is from Chicago, Saturday served as a great learning experience.
“It benefits everyone. It benefits the students as student-teachers, as learners, as leaders,” said Gault. “The people get to learn from what the institution is doing. The institution brings people from all over.”
Gault said he believes events like Black Family Technology Awareness Day are essential for both the university and the commu- nity.
“It’s twofold. I think the institute benefits from things like this, but also the local community. The local community gains exposure to an institution that’s constantly producing knowledge that’s exciting and has a lot of energy,” said Gault. “That’s what college campuses are. They do something special to places because they tend to spill out beyond their own walls. At least the best ones do. What makes institutions better is their relationship to their community and what they do with that.”