STEM Club offers more opportunities for students

Discoveries in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are more prominent in our society now than ever before.

Between vaccines for diseases, the newest app on a Smartphone or a more fuel efficient car, STEM has potential that today’s students can’t overlook.

Lind-Ritzville High School’s STEM club is designed to increase student exposure to STEM and prepare them for potential careers.

Last school year was LRHS’s first inaugural year with STEM club. This year, the returning members of the club will be combining previously attended field trips with new additions and projects.

STEM club advisor Jason Aldrich explained, “[We’ll be doing the] same things we were last year. We’ll try to increase awareness in science and technology and engineering related careers. I’d like to do a little bit more outreach at the grade school, so we’ll have to see what that means in terms of interest and participation.”

As club members learned last year, a key part of success in STEM is the process of students finding something that they are passionate about. Exposure to new avenues of STEM is the most efficient way of doing this.

Aldrich continued, “Part of our outreach campaign is the STEM board

where we post information about college and careers and news in STEM.”

Discovering their passion for STEM is something Ritzville High School graduates Dr. Frank Lynch and Kristian Boness are familiar with. They are role models for members of Lind-Ritzville High School STEM club.

Dr. Frank Lynch, an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Eastern Washington University, earned an expansive education in STEM, something many students at LRHS are hoping to do themselves in the future.

Dr. Lynch’s education includes a B.A. in Mathematics and a B.A. in Physics from Linfield College, as well as an M.S. and a Ph.D., both in Mathematics, from the University of Utah.

“I feel strongly that educating students in STEM is important,” Dr. Lynch explained. “I think there are excellent career options for students who obtain a degree in a STEM field. I would advise students who are considering such a degree that the best quality they can have is persistence.”

Boness is currently working as the Central Services Information Technology (IT) Director for Adams County, with a B.A. in Management Information Systems at Eastern Washington University.

His advice for students interested in entering a STEM field: “I would tell them to pursue any opportunity to job shadow in a STEM related field. I would also encourage them to take courses that are hands-on. It is important to see how STEM coursework directly relates to the workforce.”

The experience outside of the classroom is a large draw for students to STEM club.

Club member MicKayla Hall is looking forward most to the field trips; she said, “I just learn better hands-on.”

Potential field trips in STEM club this year will include the University of Idaho Engineering and Design Exposition, Business Afterschool programs in Spokane in both the fields of engineering and healthcare, as well as the Bi-County Science Challenge—“which we won last year, and we’ll need to defend that crown,” Aldrich added. More details about field trips in STEM club will be reported after students attend the trips.

STEM club member Michael Dickey is also looking forward to activities this year. He says, “I’m not the kind of person to get involved, but STEM gets me interested. It puts an attractive, fun twist on the normal learning we do.”

STEM club will be working to prepare students for the future.

Aldrich concluded, “I think it’s important that kids be knowledgeable about potential careers that they could go after… I think it’s important [that] our kids recognize the potential of employment, all the jobs out there to be had. All it takes is a little bit of curiosity and perseverance.”