Weyanoke ES girls do STEM projects at TJ
Every Friday afternoon, members of the WISE Club (Women Interested in Science and Engineering) at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology host a group of girls from Weyanoke Elementary School for fun science projects.
The program was highlighted in a feature story by the Fairfax County Public Schools Office of Communications and Community Relations. The two schools are close to one another on Braddock Road in Mason District.
The TJ students help the fifth-grade girls with hands-on activities to encourage them to consider careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
In one recent example, the Weyanoke students created “lava lamps” in empty plastic water bottles.
“The biggest hits have been the things they can bring home – like making slime, invisible ink, or slingshot rockets – or projects that involve a competition, building the tallest or strongest structure,” WISE club president Sydney Belt, a senior at TJHSST, told FCPS.
The high school students do research on engaging experiments, ensure they have the necessary supplies, and write lesson plans to ensure the younger girls understand the science behind the work.
“If you put yeast in a bottle and a balloon on top and the balloon expands, we want them to think about what is happening and why it is happening,” says TJ senior Joanna Cheng.
Group leaders hope to inspire curiosity, she says, regardless of whether the younger girls ultimately pursue STEM careers.
Weyanoke fifth-grader Ruth Getahun says the program has led her to think about her own future, maybe even applying to TJ herself one day. She says, “I can be myself here, try new opportunities and find the answers to things.”
Why not jobs as secretaries or stay-at-home moms? Why the emphasis on STEM? What makes STEM more alluring than traditional roles? Is it because STEM jobs are lucrative? Teaching our young women to worship money is setting them up for a lifetime of disappointment.
I’ll hope this was a sarcastic response. Otherwise you must be trapped in a 1950s bubble.
The 1950s sound pretty good right about now!
Agreed that we as a culture continue to place little to no emphasis on raising our children. Fatherless homes are strongly correlated with violent crime. No one is looking at data trends for homes where both parents work. My guess is that there is more violent crime and less educational achievement associated with dual income households. When parents don’t prioritize raising children, children are raised by the streets or the public school system. Not sure which is worse. Simultaneously the nuclear family is under attack from all angles.
Congratulations to the girls at Weyanoke ES and TJ students! It’s great to learn about how you model cooperation and fun projects. This will encourage many positive things in your futures – both in terms of valuable careers and in learning how to work in teams. Ignore the “gloom-and-doomsayers.”