Summer Program inspires Black high school students to pursue a future in STEM
A group of Black high school students from Hamilton and Halton area got a taste of university life this summer, thanks to a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) enrichment and leadership program held at McMaster.
The student participants in Mac-ISTEP: McMaster Black Youth IMHOTEP STEM Enrichment Program (STEP) say the experience has left them better able to envision themselves as university students, and as career professionals in STEM-related fields.
“It definitely helps to see the future more and it’s helping clear up some of the confusion around what I should do,” says Kammyia JahNova, who is going into grade 11 at Craig Kielburger Secondary School in Milton, ON. “It’s fun and really exciting.”
The students got to participate in an after-school STEM club as part of the first phase of the program in the 2023 Winter term. They then lived on campus for a week in July, taking part in fun and educational activities, that included visiting the Black Student Success Centre, conducting experiments in labs and learning about the contributions Black researchers have made to science.
“We learned how to code at Venture Academy, we did a scavenger hunt to get familiar with the campus, and we’ve learned how to use the dorms. So, they’re really preparing us for our future and for university,” says Joseph Agyapong, who is going into grade 12 at Milton District High School.
Read more at Daily News.
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