Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Students compete in STEAM competitions
Coatesville Area School District high school students are STEAMing up the competition with a recent showing at two events celebrating STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) initiatives.
Coatesville Area Intermediate High School students participated in the Dr. Lucy Balian Rorke-Adams Science Fair as part of Chester County Science Research Competition Day. A big moment for nine developing scientists from Coatesville Intermediate High School, these first-place team winners and first and second place individual winners will be moving on to the Delaware Valley Science Fair. This annual event hosts students from the tri-state area as they make new discoveries and compete for nearly $6 million dollars in scholarships and prize money.
This will be the third level of science competition these nine students have experienced in which they will have presented their projects to judges and visiting scientists, explaining their research and findings, and collaborating with STEAM professionals throughout the region. First place winners are sophomores Chris Panik (PhUN with Plants, Botany) Autumn Barnard, Jenn Hummler and Meredith Sweatlock (Team, Does Caffeine Plant Problems in Plants?) and freshmen Alex Ly, Jeremy Ramos and Jimmy Zeller (Team, How does Caffeine Affect Plant Growth?). Freshmen Skylr Kelly (Biomass to Biogas, Environmental Science), and Amelia Wildauer (New Cure for Deadly Diseases, Microbiology) scored second place wins in the individual categories.
Additionally, 30 female STEAM students participated in a symposium offered by Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology (GETT) in Phoenixville in March with biology teacher and moderator of the robotics club, Octavia Warren-Ward, at the Intermediate High School. The symposium is an annual event for girls in grades 5-10 to experience the broad scope of STEM related industries; girls were able to speak with women in STEM fields and participated in hands on learning. Two students, Nya Brown and Summer Shelton, were happy winners of iPads.
“The girls were awesome,” Warren-Ward said. “They represented the Coatesville Area School District very well and were so excited to be part of an event to celebrate women in the STEM fields.”
According to the U.S. Department of Education, “the United States has developed as a global leader, in large part, through the genius and hard work of its scientists, engineers and innovators. It’s more important than ever for our youth to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to solve tough problems.”
District officials said the skills and critical thinking that Coatesville students are developing throughout the district through STEM and STEAMrelated courses, projects and activities are exactly what these science fair winners have shown to such
great success.
“As our young men and women explore their passions in the STEAM fields and our educators create additional
challenging courses and projects to meet the interests of our students, the region will see that these winners are the first of many that will come from Coatesville,” Coatesville Area Intermediate High School Assistant Principal Eileen Rudisill said.