Denise Bilbao
STEM Society is a student organization that aims to expose K-12 students in lower socioeconomic areas to inquiry-based learning in the STEM fields. We hope to displace common stereotypes that students may have about accessibility to STEM education and careers, as well as increase their awareness about the diverse opportunities available in these fields. In addition, we strive to provide our organization members with a chance to advance their interests in teaching and sharing their passion for STEM. Our STEM Saturday teaching event is held once each semester. During this day, we bring students from the Detroit area to the University of Michigan campus to engage them in a day of hands-on STEM learning activities. Each student participates in 5 different lessons in diverse STEM topics (some examples are computer science, environmental sustainability, and genetics), where they learn more background on the subject, apply it in hands-on experiments, and learn how this knowledge is applied to the real world. They are also taken on campus tours, engage with organization members during lunch, and ask STEM and education-related questions to members in a structured panel. Through presenting STEM and education in an engaging and interactive manner, we hope to broaden their knowledge, challenge any thoughts they may have that STEM is inaccessible to them, and spark excitement and passion for pursuing a STEM education. We also hope to promote diversity and inclusion in the STEM fields by reaching out to groups that have historically been underrepresented in higher education or STEM careers and showing them that if they have a passion for the field and motivation to pursue it, that they belong in these fields as much as anybody else.
Library Mentor: Sam Hansen and Alex Rivera