On January 26th from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm in the E.E. Simmons Gymnasium, Alcorn State University (ASU) hosted their 2019 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fair.
The Fair was dedicated to Jefferson County students, Claiborne County students, Port Gibson County students, children who attend schools located in Vicksburg, and homeschooled students within the area. This annual Fair is entitled, Saturday STEM, which is an occasion for 5th – 9th graders who want to showcase their knowledge on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Director of Saturday STEM, Mary Marie Trimble, stated, “This event was originally named Saturday Science Academy, which started in 1999. Today, it is called Saturday Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. This is our second year with that name.”
There were numerous children who attended Saturday STEM who had a mix of different projects. This Fair was split into several different categories, giving students a broad range of topics to choose from. The categories included Behavioral and Social Sciences, Biochemistry, Political Science, Earth and Environmental Science, Inorganic Chemistry, Microbiology, Physics and Astronomy, Plant Sciences, Mathematics and Systems Software, Biomedical Health Science, and Engineering Mechanics.
Awards and participation certificates were given out at the end of the Fair to each deserving student. There were 1st – 6th place winners for each category, the top three awards for each grade level, and the top three overall awards. Sophomore, Imaya Woodruff, a Social Work major from Jackson, Mississippi, stated, “This is my first time working with the Saturday STEM event and it was fun to see all of the kids get involved and get a chance to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math in a different way. This was a way for them to do experiments and display what they learned.”