Letter to the Editor: Mamaroneck Schools Prep for 'STEM-tastic Saturday' May 16

To the Editor:

Raspberry Pis, award-winning apps -- such as a mobile phone app for Alzheimers patients and their caregivers and an app for quarterbacks to simulate important plays on the field -- and a “Smart Fridge” filled with USB ports so students can practice coding….All this and more, as the Mamaroneck School District builds its STEM offerings repertoire and gets ready for the 2nd Annual STEM-tastic Saturday (the largest hands-on STEM festival in the lower Hudson region presented by the STEM Alliance of Larchmont-Mamaroneck) on Saturday, May 16.

Mamaroneck Public Schools has been leading the way among public school districts in Westchester County looking to make STEM (or now STEAM to include Art!) initiatives an integral part of the curriculum and showing students first-hand the connection between learning experiences in the classroom and applied opportunities in the real-world. The seed was planted many years ago when the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation (which since 1996 has awarded more than 400 grants totaling more than $3.5 million for innovative, teacher-initiated projects that fall beyond the scope of the district budget) gave the Hommocks Middle School a grant to bring iPads into the Earth Science classrooms. From there, things blossomed. The ipad/1:1 computing initiative expanded to include multiple grades across all subject areas. The computer science program at Mamaroneck High School was initiated and now includes a three-year, in-depth sequence that prepares students for the Advanced Placement exam. And. the District during the 2015-2016 school year will expand its engineering program, as well as launch a new integrated, multi-disciplinary four-year graphic design sequence that culminates in a real-world design team experience.

STEM-tastic Saturday, which drew more than 2,000 guests in its inaugural year, has been extended to a two-day experience that now includes a half-day of career conversations for Mamaroneck High School seniors on the Friday before. And, thanks perhaps in part to the recent emphasis on STEM in our schools, there are many seniors considering STEM-related career options.

On Friday, May 15th from 12:15 pm-3:15 pm Mamaroneck Public Schools will welcome 65 STEM and STEAM professionals to participate in roundtable conversations with our graduating class members. The conversations will focus on diverse career paths, educational backgrounds and experiences that lead to those careers, personal passions in pursuit of work and how various jobs connect directly or indirectly to STEM & STEAM skills. Among the guests: a team of architects from various scale projects including the Barclay Center, sports fitness specialists, acupuncturists, the Governor’s special advisor on the Tappan Zee Bridge Project, an esteemed biomedical engineer who works in imaging, small business owners specializing in fashion and accessories, a medical doctor who served as a healthcare advisor in the Obama White House, young CBS Sports Network producers, a top veterinarian from the Bronx Zoo and many, many more.

District officials are excited about the new roundtable discussion component scheduled for Friday, giving students the chance to interact with leaders in STEM fields. Additionally, Saturday’s keynote speaker (2 pm) will be a NASA Astronaut, Captain Kathryn Hire, who served on two NASA missions and logged over 700 hours in space and more than ten million miles in orbit.

Mamaroneck Union Free School District