End of the Year Greetings from our JEP STEM Education Director(s)
Fall 2021 has been a time of many transitions especially with the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Young Scientists Program (YSP) and Medical STEM Program (MSP) transitioned from fully remote to a hybrid model and the Wonderkids after-school STEM career program continued in its new fully virtual mode. We had two staff members go on maternity leave and we had a series of cool news, awards and publications about the program. We are also celebrating YSP’s 15 year anniversary!
Hybrid Model
Spring 2021, the JEP STEM programs were presented virtually and transitioned to a hybrid model this fall semester. The hybrid model varied depending on the classroom. In some classes, JEP STEM staff projected onto a screen with a web camera capturing the students in the classroom. In other classrooms, students logged on from their own Chromebook or ipad to interact with the lesson and their TA. The switch to a hybrid model has been a transition, but both classroom teachers and TAs worked together to ensure a positive learning experience for students. To prepare for the potential of minimized classroom sharing, interim director Jessica Stellmann prepared thousands of individual STEM kits for all of the participating students. She organized them with then volunteer and now YSP TA Blanca Diaz in her home and coordinated drop-off at all partner schools.
STEM Staff Babies
Dr. Dieuwertje “DJ” Kast, our director of JEP STEM Education Programs, gave birth to her son, Grayson Kast Fung, on August 3rd, 2021. Jessica Stellmann was the interim director in her absence and did an amazing job as a leader and we are grateful for her leadership this fall semester. Jessica is equally grateful for the opportunity, stating “Over the last 4 years working at JEP as a graduate student, the STEM programs have come to mean so much to me. DJ has become a wonderful mentor, and friend. Being able to step into her role for the semester while she was bonding with Grayson has been an honor, and I’m so thankful for the trust she and her team placed in me.”
Anupam Singh, coordinator of the Medical STEM Program, had baby Samarth Singh on May 29th, 2021. Yvonne Hernandez-Guerra stepped into her role for the Fall 2021 programming.
Awards
The STEM Education Programs won two major awards this semester. Firstly, Dr. DJ Kast won the Anitab.org Social Impact Abie Award. The Social Impact Abie Award recognizes those making a positive impact on society, via technology by empowering underrepresented peoples. Secondly, the STEM Education Programs also won the “INSIGHT Into Diversity Inspiring Program in STEM” Award. The award is a measure of an institution’s individual colleges’ programs and initiatives that encourage and support the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented students into all STEM fields.
Cool News
Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist, artist and Wonderkids guest speaker, was selected to be an astronaut and pilot for SpaceX’s Inspiration4 Crew and was launched into space for three days on September 15th, 2021. She’s the first female pilot of a rocketship and she is also the fourth Black woman to go into space.
Publications
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Stellmann, J., Kast, D. (2021). Using Augmented Reality for geoscience education in low-income elementary schools. The Earth Scientist, Volume XXXVII (Issue 2), pgs. 21-26
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Barakat, R., Crittenden, A., Kast, D. (2021). Rock On! Creative Ways to introduce Elementary School Students to the Rock Cycle using Starbursts. The Earth Scientist, Volume XXXVII (Issue 2), pgs. 6-9
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Kast, D.J. (2021). Sending science majors into elementary schools helps Latino and black students realize scientists can look like them. The Conversation. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://theconversation.com/sending-science-majors-into-elementary-schools-helps-latino-and-black-students-realize-scientists-can-look-like-them-159784.
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Kast, D. (2021). When technology is a barrier in a STEM class: USC rossier. USC Rossier School of Education. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://rossier.usc.edu/for-some-students-technology-is-a-barrier-heres-what-stem-educators-can-do-about-it/.
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Kast, D. J. (2021). Authentic Marine Research Experiences for Low-Income and First Generation High School Students Used to Level the Playing Field and Decrease Attrition in STEM. Current: The Journal of Marine Education, 35(1), 16–30. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/cjme.56
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Kast, D., Sanchez, J. (2021). Game on! The gamification of predator & prey relationships for elementary teachers using Jenga. Association for Science Teacher Education Summer Newsletter 2021 Volume 54 Issue 4 https://theaste.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Spring-2021-V55.2.pdf
Looking to 2022
As we transition into a new year and the new 2022 semester, we are hoping to go back to in-person programming that existed pre-COVID. With the new vaccine mandate for ages 5-11, many of our participants are able to get vaccinated and make a safe learning environment for all parties involved. We look forward to seeing the smiling faces of students doing hands-on science experiments with their JEP STEM education staff.