Panic at the Point: Students Asked to Solve Mock Disaster

In a push for students to discover interest in science and engineering careers, is hosting the first ever "Panic at the Point."

The weeklong summer workshop will kickoff on July 30 with a mock disaster at Point State Park on Fireworks Night. Students at the workshop will be told that fireworks contaminated with a biological agent, chemical agent and shrapnel exploded all over the crowd and they must retrieve and test the material to identify the contaminants, assess the risk of exposure to the crowd and identify the perpetrator.

Students interested in robotics will collect the hazardous material, students interested in chemistry and material science will analyze the bombs and students interested in biotechnology will use forensic science and DNA analysis to identify the suspect(s).

The students will be led by instructors that include an Upper St. Clair High School teacher, a Carnegie Science Center staff member and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) master's program students from California University of Pennsylvania.

On the last day of the workshop, Aug. 3, students and teachers will participate in a final "press briefing" to report their results and resolve the case.

The workshop is open to students across the South Hills going into grades 9 through 12. It costs $350 per student and includes lunches. Upper St. Clair High School students will receive an elective credit for completing the program.

Dr. Michael Ghilani, the Upper St. Clair High School principal, hopes the workshop is the first step towards getting students excited and energized about STEM.

He said there is a real-world need for more young adults to get into STEM-related careers. At PPG, 30 percent of its workforce is retirement eligible, and officials there told Ghilani they're going to have a difficult time finding people to replace the employees.

Westinghouse is forecasting a similar problem, according to Ghilani. In 10 years, 75 percent of their workforce will be retirement eligible and officials are worried about finding enough nuclear engineers. They said there is a real shortage of American-born engineers.

Ghilani said students don't have to be great in an AP science class to go into a science career. He said there are many options to discover.

Interested students should call 412-237-1637 to register.

In the meantime, Ghilani is working with Director of Advancement Liz Hall to create permanent STEM labs at the high school. They are working with the Carnegie Science Center and employers in the industry to staff the labs and give students real-world problems to solve in an "untraditional classroom" setting during regular school hours.