This spring Cass Tech held its annual STEM Expo. The STEM Expo this year was held on Microsoft Teams, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the guidelines set forth by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
STEM educators, real scientists, and Cass Tech students attended the event. The STEM expo consisted of expert presentations and interactive events.
STEM is an approach to learning and development that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through STEM, students develop key skills including: problem solving and creativity. STEM Expos are usually an alternative for a science fair, a place where students can exhibit their work. The expo provides an opportunity for students to get information in the science, technology, math, and engineering work fields.
The STEM Expo has been an annual event at Cass Tech for 15 years. This year's event was hosted by Cass Tech science teacher Venise Borum. Borum said she wanted to keep the tradition alive at Cass Tech. Borum also said she wanted to get as many students engaged, so she had different presenters from the University of Detroit Mercy and the Raymond James firm.
“It was a flood of questions in cyber security, a lot of our students are really interested and fascinated with computer technology,” Borum said.
Borum said Raymond James' firm did an excellent job answering questions and presenting software security applications, while keeping students engaged.
“Even with biology presentations with the live animals students really enjoyed that and got a kick out of that, just to be able to change the mood of always being online, students enjoyed this,” Borum said.
She said students were really engaged when the live animals were presented.
Senior Kevin Wallace said he really enjoyed the animals that were presented. He enjoyed the reptiles presented by U of D the most.
“I never knew snakes were originally lizards and just evolved from them,” Wallace said.
Wallace said he is really interested in joining the STEM field and is going to college to be a mechanical engineer.
“I actually am doing a summer program at the University of Michigan called M-STEM for people going into the mechanical engineering field,” Wallace said.
Sophomore Kamryon Johnson said she also is interested in entering the STEM field.
“I would say I really paid attention to the projects that U of D Mercy presented and the fields the students majored in,” Johnson said.
She said she loves the interaction between U of D and the students.
“I like the way they work hand on hand with the students and how they do experiments based on the majors, that’s the college I want to attend,” Johnson said.
