Chaney girls focused on STEM

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

They measure and build and create and sometimes indulge in girl talk. They’re the Chaney STEM Girls, a group that meets after school twice monthly to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The group started last year when Pam Lubich, Chaney’s STEM coordinator, received a FirstEnergy grant and bought supplies. This year, she earned a Wean Foundation grant to continue the effort, which aims to get girls interested in STEM and STEM occupations.

On one side of the lab in the second-floor classroom, seventh-graders Rickie Robison, 13, Peyton Truman, 12, and Jacasia Carmichael, 13, learn about alternative power sources using the Green Snap Circuits.

“We’re making a multipower fan,” explained Jacasia, snapping wires and cords together.

A booklet that accompanies the instrument explains how students can connect circuits powered by a windmill, multipower or battery.

“We just follow the instructions,” Rickie said.

This is the first year in STEM Girls for all three.

Peyton said she joined because she likes math.

Sharon Ragan, middle school STEM teacher, is there to help if the girls need it.

“They come in and say, ‘Can we build something?’” Ragan said.

To them, that means to create something and Ragan has various supplies and materials in the classroom to oblige.

They’ve made snowmen using socks they filled with rice and decorated with pins for facial features.

On a recent afternoon, they were measuring 2-inch sections of duct tape and folding them to a point to create petals and turning them into flower pens. The duct tape is decorated with patterns, colors and designs.

While they work, they talk about school and their lives.

“I let them talk,” Ragan said, adding that she intervenes if she believes a conversation warrants it.

They may talk about something that’s bothering them, gathering input from their peers.

“It’s building relationships,” Ragan said. “They don’t see me as just a teacher. I’m a real person, too.”

But Ragan also leads them in discussions.

“When we talk to the STEM girls, Mrs. Lubich and I like to discuss academics, schooling and future jobs in STEM-related fields,” she said. “We want them to know what is out there for them. We have STEM all the way through high school at Chaney where our students can earn [Youngstown State University] credits.”

Through Project Based Learning, Ragan’s students learn by interacting, using technology and inquiry, not just reading out of a book, she said.

“These young girls have opportunities to attend YSU’s Girls in Engineering, BWiser at Wooster College, summer programs, and have competed in many math competitions like Challenge 24 and MathCounts,” she said.

Bray’den Little, 12, a sixth-grader, is in her first year in the after-school club, and seventh-grader Jonyia McClendon, 13, tried it for the first time earlier this week.

“It sounded like something that would be fun and educational at the same time,” Bray’den said.

Jonyia joined because she thought it would be an interesting way to learn more about science.

Besides Ragan, Carrie Sinkele, the school’s engineering teacher, and math teacher Fawn McPheters also work with the group.

All of the girls involved are middle-school-aged, although Lubich said a goal is to recruit high school girls to the club.