Among presenters were engineers, veterinarian, pharmacist, and others
By Krista Cerminaro
The Lenape Regional High School District hosted its annual STEM Career Night at Lenape High School on March 6.
Lenape, Shawnee, Cherokee and Seneca high school students attended the event to hear from various South Jersey professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields speak about their career paths.
Presenters included different types of engineers — including an environmental engineer, nuclear engineer and chief engineer — and an architect, pharmacist, veterinarian and professor of computer science, among many others.
“They’re amazing people,” Shawnee assistant principal David Maier said. “They’re very invested in STEM — whether it’s science, or engineering, or mathematics — and they want to get other people into those careers.”
“I hope to just give them background on the career, and enough information so that they can figure out whether or not this is something they’re interested in — and if they are interested, I have some tips and tricks to kind of get them started on their career, and places to get more information,” said Willis Towers Watson actuary Kristen Eiding, one presenter at STEM Career Night. “I think it’s great to just understand all of the careers that are out there, and hear firsthand from people who are in those careers, so they can see whether or not it’s the right choice for them.”
Maier described the coordination of the event — which has been going on for roughly 10 years — as a “team effort” between sciences supervisors, math supervisors and technology supervisors across LRHSD.
“Anytime we can get students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, it’s a good thing,” Maier said. “So, we’re very passionate about it. We want to inform kids about careers that they can possibly get into — as part of STEM — and so we ask people to come and talk about how they got into their career, what they do on a daily basis, what kind of training they had, and it just helps make students make decisions about college — about which direction they want to go. It’s a beneficial thing.”
Cherokee parent Ray Price — whose son, Timothy Price, is a freshman interested in engineering, math and science — said the exposure to various options is what’s most beneficial to students who attend STEM career night, in his opinion.
“He’s been interested in STEM, so this is a way for him to maybe learn some information, learn some detail, and help make sure he really wants to participate in it. He’s only a freshman, but to see this now, it’s better than all the tough decisions you have to make when you’re a junior [or] senior,” Price said. “You might learn stuff you’ve never heard of before.”
Patrick Bell, a freshman at Shawnee, attended the event to learn more about potential opportunities in engineering. Bell is interested in the possibility of becoming a pilot.
“All he knows is, he likes math and science — he doesn’t know what that could translate to later. So, this shows what it could translate to, and if they see a career, it gives them the path of what they should do to get there,” said Bell’s mother, Marian.
This year, LRHSD also incorporated its “One Book” program into the event.
“Across the district, we have a program called the ‘One Book,’ where all students in the district read the same book. And then, in English classes, math classes, science classes — particularly this year — students do activities and talk about the book. The book this year was ‘Hidden Figures,’’ Maier said. “The three women are involved with NASA, whether it’s coding the computers that run the space exploration and going to the moon, or just in general solving math problems. And so, we wanted to incorporate the book into STEM career night.”
Various large posters were set up around the school, depicting notable women in STEM-related fields.
