Local Voices
Wellesley's First STEM Expo Is First Rate!
Wellesley’s First STEM Expo Is First Rate!
by Rama K Ramaswamy, Julia de Peyster and Sue Sours
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The verdict is in. On the first Saturday of this April, approximately 3500 people attended the very first Wellesley STEM Exposition held at the High School. Although in 2009, Wellesley ranked #2 in Forbes’ list of "America's Most Educated Small Towns", Expo attendees were not limited to the town; rather, they included neighbors from Natick, Needham, Sherborn, Framingham, Cambridge, Brookline and even Manchester NH. Beth Zigmont, parent of 3 children, said that she initially thought “this was going to be a small science fair- it’s a small town…” Small event- indeed! Zigmont adds, “but I was blown away!” In fact, 40 children ranging from grades 4-8 who were interviewed during the course of the day said exactly that- “blown away”; another group of 30 children, ranging from K-3, when asked how they liked the Expo so far, said simply, “wow, wow, wow!” Local high schoolers volunteered, some got extra credit and others couldn’t seem to leave, according to Julie Bohem, a WHS Biology teacher, “I ran into MANY of my juniors there and they kept saying how pleasantly surprised they were and many of them stayed well beyond what they needed”. Another WHS teacher, Julie Spilka brought her toddler and was happy to find that the Expo was keeping her little one well occupied! Parents, Andreina Vegas and Sunny Allen mentioned their children’s favorites- satellites, stream table and robots!
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Out of the 200 adults interviewed, 99% expressed enthusiasm, excitement and acknowledged a “need for STEM”, saying, “just look at this turn out! We clearly need more STEM and if you throw an event like this, people will come!” Parent, Wen Cai said, “this type of Expo gives us {parents} the chance to give our kids opportunities for exposure to so much STEM and {its} applications all in one place”. They signed up to join the STEM/ Wellesley Education Foundation’s (WEF) email mailing list, wore robot-logo stickers on their lapels and shepherded their children through all three floors of 75 hands-on/ interactive exhibits, 10 workshops, a speaker series covering topics ranging from climate change, how to make education engaging and informal- taking it from the museum to the classroom, inventing smart needles and possibilities for robotic doctors, a panel discussion- inspiring women in STEM and a keynote address by Dr. Jeff Hoffman with an introduction given by Julia de Peyster who acknowledged and praised Expo Steering Committee Chair, Katey Goehringer, “for her vision”. Dr. Hoffman is a former NASA astronaut with 5 space shuttle flights under his belt whose presentation left the auditorium with standing room only. If that wasn’t enough, it certainly wasn’t the end. The Expo concluded with a “Meet The STEM Professionals” session where students got the chance to brainstorm with established people in various STEM fields including Dr. Hoffman. Victoria Smith, a high school sophomore, drove in with her mother from Milford and got to speak with Gregory Groot- an Expo exhibitor who works in the field of Optics. Her mother Teresa said, “learning about optics got the wheels turning for her… {she found} there is a wide range of opportunities out there.”
All the Wellesley Public Schools were well represented via posters lining the walls and interactive exhibits. Hardy, Bates, Sprague and Schofield Schools drew in lots of K-7 children with their “Take Apart Tech Lab”, “First Lego League”, “M&M Math” and “Can You Kanoodle” exhibits as did those from local private schools such as Tenacre Country Day, Dana Hall and St. John Schools which attracted a more variable but nonetheless steady stream of people. Wellesley Middle School showcased their Science Olympiad and the High School featured a Robotics and 3D Design Lab among other items. Almost all of the exhibitors, spread through corridors and floors of the high school, were incredibly happy to be fatigued by lunchtime- reflective of the passion and energy they each put into sharing their piece of STEM expertise and the sheer volume of people who, as a Tesla Motors staff member said, “wanted to be in the know!” Students, such as Nicholas Weber, from the Clay Center Observatory, Dexter Southfield School, brought in a Segway, meteorite fragments and a dancing R2D2 life size robot. Weber was one of the students who discovered an asteroid that passed relatively close to the Earth in 2012; he estimated that about 1500 people had come to his exhibit since it opened at 10am. The 3-D Printer- just inside the main lobby, George Roberts’ Planetarium- upstairs and the bright red Tesla Model S- parked right outside the main doors were all exhibits, adults and children said were “hard to miss”. WEF members not only donated their time, they facilitated coordinating volunteers, directing traffic and attendees and kept the Expo running smoothly in conjunction with the Expo Steering Committee team; including Anne Marie Cronin who efficiently handled running a shuttle service to and from the high school. One of the Expo organizers, Kristen Toffer passed along a personal message of a job well done to her fellow team members about the day, saying, “{it} lived up to my 3rd grader's pre-Expo description ‘the awesome exhibit expo’. I kept this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt in the back of my mind during much of the last several months "you must do the things you think you can not do", and we did and THEN some!”
The Expo Steering Committee welcomes feedback on their Facebook page, please take a moment to send them comments. The Expo team, along with WEF would like to acknowledge and thank “all our exhibitors, speakers, workshop leaders, showcases, and volunteers who helped make this event come to life”.
SPONSORS
Cisco
Patriot Renewables
Biogen Idec Foundation
Intex
MathWorks
Thermo Fisher Scientific
OTHERS
Paige Adams
Baystateparent Magazine
Boston Globe
Bio-Rad Science Ambassadors
Dr. Dean Blase
Julie Boehm, Robert Cohen, Nora Curran, & Julie Spilka
Busy Bee Jumpers
Liz Callanan
Cameron Press
Carolyn Collins, Jany Finkielsztein, Kate Morton, & Michael Quillan
P. A. d’Arbeloff, Peg LeGendre, & staff of Cambridge Science Festival
Nancy Dobos, Dobos Design
Addie Doherty
Kathleen Dooley
Kelly Friendly
Andrea Giroux
Phylliss Hill
Matthew Hornung
Kate Lester
Linda Looft
Dr. David Lussier
Craig Mack
Elise MacLennan
Microsoft
Sophie Scott
Starbucks, Linden Square
Swellesley Report
Phyllis Theermann
Kevin Thurston, Executive Director, MetroWest STEM Education Network
Annalisa Weigel
Wellesley Council on Aging
Wellesley Education Foundation Board Members
Wellesley Free Library
WHS Honor Society
WHS Key Club
Wellesley Hometown Weekly
Wellesley Media Corporation
Wellesley Patch
Wellesley Police Department
Wellesley Public Schools
Wellesley Public School PTOs, St. John, St. Paul, Dana Hall and Tenacre Country Day
Wellesley Townsman
Wellesley Weston Magazine
Tom Zinck
STEM EXPO STEERING COMMITTEE
Katey Goehringer
Anne Marie Cronin
Julia de Peyster
Marybeth Martello
Sheila Olson
Rama K Ramaswamy
Sue Sours
Kristen Toffer
Beth Willett