Elmsford Students Participate in Mercy College STEM Academy

Two students from Alexander Hamilton Jr/Sr. High School and two from the Alice E. Grady Elementary School in the Elmsford Union Free School District had the opportunity to participate in a unique Spring 2018 Saturday STEM Academy initiative at Mercy College recently where they created robots, studied the development of embryos and made cool Legos.

The students who participated were: Samarth Singh, grade 1; Saivikas Shivakumar, grade 6 (robotics); Katrina Hampton, grade 7 (Robotics); and Ryla Maxwell, grade 10.

Three of the students received scholarships valued at $300 each, which enabled them to attend the all-day initiative.

Each student had an opportunity to sign up for a course of their choosing. They included a Lego Mindstorms activity and other courses, such as “Let’s Explore Mars,” part of the NASA BEST (Beginning Engineer, Science and Technology) program for third- through fifth-graders; “Discovering Brain Development” for ninth- through 12-graders; and a robotics and programming class for fifth- through ninth-grade students.

Watch this video to see the students’ learning experiences at the Academy.

“This was such an amazing experience for our students,” said Superintendent Dr. Marc Baiocco. “We look forward to additional partnerships with Mercy in the future.”

The newly established STEM Academy, under the auspices of the Mercy College Center for STEM Education (CSE), gives K-12 students an opportunity to learn hands-on STEM concepts and skills in a collaborative environment with distinguished STEM educators. Its mission is to create opportunities for groups typically underrepresented in the STEM arena and to provide them with enrichment activities for learning, career readiness, enjoyment, and personal and community growth.