A Stimulating STEM Encounter

On Friday, March 14, NCS students and faculty took part in the second annual “Uncommon Alliance” STEM Conference, a project of Georgetown Day School and E.L. Haynes Public Charter School. With a focus on improving the recruitment and retention of women and minorities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines and encouraging collaborations with area schools, the conference featured many speakers from the worlds of science and science policy.
 
After the keynote address by Jim Gates, professor of physics at the University of Maryland and member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, students and teachers split up for separate activities. Students rotated through three of five different challenges, which required collaboration between students from different schools, while teachers heard about the next generation of science standards.
 
Following lunch, there was a presentation by Tony Wagner, expert in resident at Harvard University’s new Innovation Lab and author of Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World, on models for teaching STEM innovatively. Students and teachers then discussed how to get more student engagement in STEM subjects, from a student perspective. Students also had an opportunity to meet STEM professionals, while teachers met with their counterparts from other schools.
 
“My 9th grade students were excited to hear the keynote speaker talk about the importance of binary representation in STEM fields, since we did a special activity on that subject earlier this year ,” said NCS Mathematics Teacher Patricia Howie. “I also appreciated the sharing by other teachers and schools of their approaches to various subjects.”
 
"For me, a highlight was having students from independent and public schools engage deeply on issues that are important to all students,” said NCS Admission Director Wendy Wilkinson. "It’s great to see the students learning from one another’s experiences and also getting to know one another on a personal level."
 
The NCS students attending the conference included:
 
Skye Bork ‘17
Julia Currie ‘15
Alexandra “Ally” Dalaya ‘17
Margaret “Meg” Greer ‘14
Marcha Kiatrungrit ‘15
Treacy “Nikki” Krisztinicz ‘17
Vanessa Moore ‘15
Avri Parker ‘15
Shivani Prakash ‘15
Rachel Rubin ‘15
Maya Samuel ‘15
Sophia Triantis ‘17

NCS faculty attending included Susan Flagg and Patricia Howie from the Mathematics department, STEM coordinator Nancy Ehrlich and Brendan Moriarty from the Science department, and Wendy Wilkinson, director of Admissions.
 
 
 
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    • NCS students at the conference. Photos by Vanessa Moore '15.

    • Students from different schools worked in teams.

    • Green glasses were included in the swag bag!