Imagining a STEM Future

The freshman girls from Liberty High School filed slowly into Whitaker and Neville labs on Monday morning with the energy one would expect from high school freshmen on a Monday morning.    

“It’s okay to smile,” said Vassie Ware, professor of molecular biology, as students took their seats prior to her presentation.

“How many of you have had some relative tell you not to eat dirt?” Ware asked a few moments later, spurring on the smiles she’d been seeking. Ware then launched into a discussion of dirt, bacteriophages, tuberculosis and the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers.

“Imagine Your STEM Future Day,” a full-day event sponsored by the Office of Academic Outreach at Lehigh University, the Bethlehem Area School District and Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP), immersed more than 250 young women in a college STEM experience. The program was funded by the Comcast Corporation through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), which enables GSEP to partner with school districts to offer girls STEM-based academic experiences. 

“We are tasked with reaching out to schools to do these types of programs in elementary, middle and high schools. We really want to bring STEM programs to inner-city schools, and Liberty is part of our territory, so to speak,” said Milagros Rivera, membership manager for special initiatives at GSEP. GSEP is the largest girl-serving organization in Pennsylvania with more than 40,000 participants.

GSEP’s special initiatives team works with schools where girls might not otherwise participate in Girl Scouts for a variety of reasons. Providing programs at the schools at the end of the school day enables students to participate in activities once a week for the entire school year. Liberty High School principal Harrison Bailey welcomed the GSEP “Imagine Your STEM Future” program because it aligned well with the high school’s freshman seminar curriculum. 

Prior to the event at Lehigh, Rivera and her team provided Liberty students with four sessions of interactive STEM-based activities. She recalled asking students at the start of the program to describe what they picture when they think of a scientist.

“They all said the same thing: an old man with glasses, white crazy hair, a lab coat and funny shoes… [So] we showed them a variety of diverse women [and told them], ‘These are all scientists.’”

GSEP reached out to Angela Scott, director of academic diversity and outreach in Lehigh’s Office of the Provost, to organize the university’s role in the initiative.

“[Our office] is charged with building partnerships with the community and trying to bring students like the Liberty girls to Lehigh’s campus,” said Scott. “Some of these students may never have walked onto Lehigh’s campus. But they now have sat in a large lecture hall, they have seen Lehigh students that look just like them helping them. We take pride in bringing students on campus so they can see college and higher education as a possibility, as well as see themselves in those STEM careers.”

Scott sought out a diverse group of faculty members who she believed would also be engaging to students.

Marshmallows, beverages and other wonders

Bill Best, professor of practice in electrical and computer engineering, increased student understanding of engineering with a presentation called “What Is Engineering? Is It More Than Driving Trains?”

“I feel it is important to let especially young women know of the wonderful opportunities and challenges that engineering offers and that they can indeed study engineering,” said Best, who is also director of Lehigh’s CHOICES and IDEAS programs. “I hope that students take away a sense of the wonders of engineering, how much fun engineering actually is and that, as I say, 'engineers do good things.'”

Richard Vinci, professor of materials science and engineering, demonstrated materials science by, among other things, inviting students to taste marshmallows frozen in liquid nitrogen in a presentation titled "Smarter, Stronger, Cleaner: Why Materials Matter."

“I think most kids don’t get an opportunity to see anything like this kind of stuff. In fact, most parents are always saying, ‘Don’t touch that, don’t break that,’” said Vinci. “You can’t learn if you don’t touch things and break things.”

“Too often college students come and they think they want to be an engineer, but it’s all because they were good at math and science and somebody said, ‘You should try engineering.’ But they don’t really have any idea of what engineers actually do. I hope that by seeing some of this they will have a different sense of what engineers do and why it’s a useful profession and the fact that it can help people.”

“I hope that the students will take an interest in science and appreciate and enjoy the wonders of nature,” said Gary DeLeo, professor of physics. DeLeo frequently provides outreach to local schools to engage students in science. His presentation, “Probing the Wonders of the Physical World: Light, Sound, Atoms, and More," included the perspective of graduate student Kara Richter.

Denise Beatreau, general chemistry lab manager, presented “Dye Analysis of Beverages” and “Chromatography in Common Pain Medication.”

“I hope that at the very least the students will consider STEM and the variety of fields within the core STEM areas as options when they are thinking of possible careers and that they see non-traditional ways that STEM can be applied and how it impacts everyday life in some way,” said Beautreau. 

Krista Evans ‘03G, senior associate director of admissions at Lehigh and a graduate of Liberty High School, spoke to the students over lunch about the college admissions process.

“Many students in Bethlehem are the first in their families to attend college. Early access and education regarding the college search process is important to their success,” said Evans.  “I, myself, am a first-generation college student, so I enjoy sharing my story with students who might be in the same position.

“The college admissions process can be very overwhelming. …  I want young people to know that regardless of where they are, they need to advocate for themselves, ask questions, and have these tough and sometimes confusing conversations about college. … This was a tremendous opportunity to provide advice and guidance to such an impressionable audience.”

Scott offered her thanks to the faculty and staff members who participated so enthusiastically: “When I reached out, they didn’t hesitate … It makes me happy to really know that the Girl Scouts, the school district, and the university care about these young people enough to really work to bring them on campus.”

At the conclusion of her presentation, Ware mentioned a 2012 report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which indicates that the United States will need one million new individuals working in STEM in the next decade.

“That means for those of you interested in STEM, we have to retain your interest in STEM,” said Ware, who is also one of the directors of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) program at Lehigh. “If you want to do something to help solve our problems, there are many problems that can be solved with technology and science and engineering and understanding mathematical solutions. I want you to be part of that solution.”

At the very least, students might now have a clearer understanding of how they might be.

“I like it. I’m having fun. I never really thought about being an engineer, but seeing what they do, I like it,” said Liberty student Jade Pastor.

Photos by Stephanie Veto