October Mentor Fair Video

The STEM team would like to thank the TV Production students for putting together a media package of our October mentor fair. The second annual mentor fair hosted over 30 local STEM professionals and gave the STEM students an opportunity to explore many different careers.

CSI Forensic Science Lab

This Thursday December 3, the TC STEM Academy will be hosting The National Law Enforcement Museum traveling forensic science lab. During the hour session, students will engage in a mock case involving blood spatter, fingerprints, and shoe impressions and will use scientific principles to solve the case! This in-school event will be a precursor to their next English book, Sherlock Holmes.

X-STEM Symposium Donors Choose Fully Funded! 

We are excited to announce that our Donors Choose has been fully funded! Thank you to our wonderful donors and to Google’s Making and Science team for completing our funding. We are looking forward to taking our students to the US Science and Engineering Festival in April 2016 to hear from many STEM professionals. View the full list of speakers students can choose from.

 

Donors Choose X-STEM Symposium

Each year, the USA Science and Engineering Festival hosts visionaries in science, technology, engineering, and math at the X-STEM Symposium. This conference-style event will give students the opportunity to hear speakers from a variety of career fields. You can view the full list of 2016 speakers here.

We are raising money to take our STEM 10 students to this amazing event and we need your help! Please visit our Donors Choose page to donate towards the admissions fees. Your donation will allow students to hear from inventors, astrophysicists, roboticists and much more!

Careers in Transportation Field Trip

On Thursday October 8, the STEM Academy visited the Prince William County Fairgrounds to learn about careers in transportation. Students learned about the Virginia Department of Transportation, law enforcement, and machine operation to name a few. Several of our students learned about construction lifts, operated backhoes, and built bridges! 

View all pictures from this amazing event here.

 

STEM Opportunities 

Don’t forget to check out the many STEM opportunities available to our students. Deadlines are approaching for many of them!

On Friday October 2, the STEM Academy hosted over 30 local STEM professionals at our second annual career day. Our volunteers spent a few hours speaking with our students about their post-secondary and career paths and gave our students a chance to share their future plans. Many careers were represented ranging from statisticians and program managers to IT professionals and local professors. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers. We know you made a huge impact on our students! See what our students had to say about the event below:

“I really enjoyed career day! I loved being able to meet a bunch of people who have STEM jobs that I wouldn’t be exposed to normally. I found it fascinating to hear the descriptions of everyone’s jobs and how they got there. I also enjoyed hearing about some of the jobs that I had never considered. Another thing I appreciated was how well women were represented. There is a lack of women in STEM fields and it was nice to see them represented well during career day!”

“Career day was a good experience for me because I was able to see the many fields out in the real world that connect to [what] I do in school today! I learned many things and met many people [who] have a say in very important decisions, such as the amount of pollution that can be in the air in the United States, and other people who designed things for a greater discovery.”

“Career day was a useful and meaningful experience for me. It made me think a lot about what I might want to do when I get older. I learned a lot about different jobs that I didn’t know existed before. I also learned that getting a job is not always about your education or previous experiences it is also about hard work and motivation. I met a woman who never graduated college, started working for her company in the mail room, and is now a director of business development. She inspired me to always work hard and never give up.”

 

 

Student Highlights 

Throughout the year we will be highlighting our wonderful students including our STEM Alumni. You can check out our student page to see information about events we’ve held, student work, and information about our STEM Alumni. We are proud of the hard work our current and former students put in as part of the STEM program.

Check out our first post about the Minorities in Energy forum several of our students attended on Thursday September 17. Students were able to network with ambassadors for the Minorities in Energy initiative as well as meet the Policy Advisor for the Chief Technology Office at the White House.

Donors Choose: Last day to match! 

Don’t forget today is the last day to have your Donors Choose donation matched up to $100. Use the promo code SPARK at checkout. Money donated will pay for admissions fees for the X-STEM Symposium in DC on April 14.

There are only four days left to have your Donors Choose donation matched! Help send our STEM students to the X-STEM Symposium on April 14 as part of the USA Science and Engineering Festival. These donations will go directly toward the admissions fees for this event.

During the symposium, students can choose from twenty different speakers ranging from engineers to medical professionals. Students will have the opportunity to attend three different talks. This program will give our students a chance to learn about the many career opportunities available to them and will hopefully inspire them to continue their paths in STEM.

If you would like to donate, please visit our Donors Choose site. At checkout, use the promo code SPARK to have your donation matched up to $100.

Thank you for the support!

Are you a professional in a STEM field or do you know someone who is? Then we need your help! One of the main components of the 10th grade STEM academy is coordinating with professionals in STEM fields to encourage and guide our students through their educational journey. There are several ways to get involved: Visit our classrooms as a guest speaker, host a field trip, attend our annual career day, or become a year-long mentor for one of our capstone groups. 

This year’s career day will take place on Friday October 2 at TC Williams High School. Last year we had professionals in various fields from veterinary science to engineering and law. Our students enjoyed learning about their many career options and were able to network with over twenty local professionals. 

If you are interested in attending our career day or becoming involved in other ways please fill out or pass along our contact form. You can also contact Jen Ushe at Jennifer.Ushe@acps.k12.va.us for more information.