On April 23, 50 7th and 8th grade students from Cincinnati Public Schools participated in a Virtual STEM Workshop, developed by the West Point Center for Leadership & Diversity in STEM. ABC worked with CPS staff at each school to identify and enroll the student participants.
The goal of the event was to help expose underrepresented youth to STEM activities, and create a passion for the subject matter. Students met at their schools, and participated in the event virtually. Students started by meeting in a large group to discuss cryptology, phishing, and cyber security. After this, students broke into smaller groups to work on STEM activities, lead by the cadets from the West Point Academy. This arrangement allowed for students to engage in a fun and interactive manner while learning about STEM careers.
While this event is typically in person at the University of Cincinnati, this year it was held virtually. In order to help facilitate this virtual event, West Point Society of Greater Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative reached out to ABC for assistance.
In addition to recruiting the participants, ABC also helped set up and facilitate the technology for the event, making sure that the Cadets from West Point could communicate with the students clearly and effectively. This was especially helpful in ensuring the students could participate virtually, from the safety of their own classrooms.
This virtual event had a tremendous impact on the students who participated. Multiple students stated that they found the material to be “really cool,” and expressed interest in exploring STEM subjects further. One teacher, Ms. Garner, said her students enjoyed themselves, and asked if they could do this everyday.
It took many organizations and people to make the event a success. While ABC was the lead on recruitment and facilitation, West Point Society of Greater Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative were the event’s main sponsors. West Point took the lead on running the event, supported by cadets from the United States Military Academy.
ABC is extremely proud to partner on such an amazing event. We look forward to working with the West Point Society of Greater Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative in the future, and to facilitating more STEM activities for CPS students.
