Mazama Graduates First Class of STEM&M Students
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Eleven seniors graduate Friday and become the first class of STEM&M students from Mazama High School. (Submitted Photo)
11 Seniors complete program
On June 8, the first class of STEM&M students will graduate from Mazama High School. The program started in 2016 and is a partnership between Mazama and Oregon Tech. Students follow specific pathways toward college degrees and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medical.
These 11 seniors graduating through STEM&M are high achievers, headed for college and careers in engineering, computer programming, medical imaging, orthopedics, chemistry and entrepreneurship. Two STEM&M students are co-valedictorians of the Class of 2018.
“Mazama is extremely proud of its first graduating STEM&M cohort,” said Laura Nickerson, STEM&M organizer at Mazama and one of the creators of the program. “These students successfully navigated a multitude of requirements: STEM&M pathway courses, Oregon Tech credits, college ready requirements, as well as numerous extension activities per year. It has taken dedication, time management and perseverance to accomplish.”
“The work load, determination and grit required of these students is awe-inspiring. As the first graduating STEM&M class, these students have set the standard to which subsequent classes will be held,” said Grace Rusth, academic partnership coordinator at Oregon Tech. “I look forward to continuing the STEM&M program for years to come, and following the success of each class as they graduate high school and make their way in the world.”
STEM&M by the numbers
In 2016, 23 students originally started in this STEM&M class. By graduation, 11 are set to complete the program, and 12 did not. Of those 12, most moved or decided to drop because they are pursuing different college pathways. Only one student was dropped from the program for failing to maintain a 3.0 grade point average.
“Completing the STEM&M program has many challenges that each of these students surmounted,” Rusth said.
“They enrolled in collegiate level coursework, completed community awareness projects, volunteered to enhance STEM knowledge, competed in extracurricular clubs and sports, all while maintaining a strong academic presence and an eye toward their future.”
STEM&M required these seniors to attend a minimum of 30 hours of guest speakers, internships, fellowships, field trips and community service in STEM&M related experiences over the past three years.
“But when I’ve added them as a group of 11 they have had over 780 hours,” Nickerson said. “From OHSU to Nasa's Ames Research Center, our endeavor is to provide a span of quality experiences for STEM&M students.”
Today, 81 total students are in the STEM&M program at Mazama in grades 9, 10 and 11 in the 2017-18 school year. Including the seniors, STEM&M students make up about 14 percent of Mazama’s 649 students.
“The STEM&M program began as an idea, a new take on high school to college partnerships,” Rusth said.
“STEM&M is now a competitive, rigorous high school to college experience recognized by name within the community and a program of pride for Mazama High School and Oregon Tech.
Many students thanked the staff who started the program and gave them the opportunities STEM&M offered.
Connecting high school and college
Of the 11 STEM&M graduates, about half are going to the Oregon Institute of Technology. They said STEM&M gave them a leg up in preparing for college, applying and getting accepted, and networking with future instructors and staff at Oregon Tech.
“The opportunities STEM&M gave me to go to OIT events, to meet different OIT staff and students and get to know them a little better definitely helped me to get into it,” said Aislinn Browder, 17, who will study radiologic science. “Also the high standards of STEM&M helped a lot.”
“It introduced us to the college atmosphere by the college classes we were able to take,” said Brooke Yancey, 17, who will study cybersecurity and computer engineering.
“It’s kind of a win-win situation,” said Mariano Segura, 18, who will major in mechanical engineering and business.
“It looks nice on a college application, and in this case it particularly took me to this university,” said Matt Volpe, 18, who will major in software engineering.
Aiden Stenkamp, 18, will study small business management at Oregon Tech. He said STEM&M made his decision to go to OIT easier, as STEM&M offers $9,500 in total scholarships there.
“Most all of my scholarships are from OIT,” he said, noting he has more than $12,000 in scholarships from Oregon Tech including the STEM&M scholarships. “It helped me get more connections to get accepted and know more people to make the decision easier.”
Students headed to other colleges and military said STEM&M helped prepare them for that next step, and helped on their college applications.
“I wanted to learn a lot more and get more out of high school,” said Taylen Schwind, 18, who is enlisting in the U.S. Air Force and hopes to pursue a career in technology. “Most of the stuff we learned will relate to the real world, not just in school.”
“It helped gear me in the right direction,” said Blake Aho, 17, who will attend Oregon State University and study biology and health sciences. “It gave me the opportunity to get involved in other things. And it shows I wanted to work hard.”
“The responsibility aspect of it was huge,” said Aspen Smith, 18, who is headed to OSU to study public health. “Everything was really on our own time, activities outside of school. It was all on you.”
Anteny Erdman, 18, who is headed to Portland State University to study computer science, said the requirements to get into STEM&M helped prepare him for college.
“Getting those requirements and keeping those requirements the entire way through STEM&M is probably what helped the most,” he said. “By holding yourself to the standards of having a certain grade point average and to do a certain amount of specific classes, it helped. In college we’ll be doing a similar thing. It helps you realize: This is what I’m going to do in the future as well. I’m going to have to select the classes to get through my pathway to my career.”
STEM&M advantages
In STEM&M students choose a pathway (science, technology/engineering, math or medical) and complete specific courses at Mazama, through dual credit and on college campuses at Oregon Tech and Klamath Community College. They must maintain a 3.0 GPA and earn 10 STEM&M points each year through additional activities.
“You gain experience in the field you intend to study,” Segura said. “You also get real-world experience and you get experience in your community.”
Segura and Volpe, as Mazama’s Chief Science Officers this year, ran the STEMonstration science fair to get younger students interested in STEM&M. And they have helped at science fairs at elementary schools.
“It gives you a taste of everything,” said Trey Wortman, 18, who is headed to Lane Community College to study economics and business management. “The key thing in helping people is being able to relate to people in different ways. Getting into this program, I’ve been around so many different people. That’s helped me interact with everybody.”
“I liked that we were able to take different college classes and not just be the same,” Yancey said.
Browder also liked the opportunity take classes at Oregon Tech and Klamath Community College in the summer, volunteer in the community and network with college.
Smith liked that the program includes a Chromebook for every student. Those who completed the program had the option to keep it for college.
“It helped me with a lot of my school work, not just STEM&M,” she said.
Once a month, guest speakers visit STEM&M during lunch. They speak to the students and students ask questions about their tech, science and medical careers.
“I really liked that I had the opportunity to hear from people like guest speakers,” said Bethany Morrow, 18, who will attend Portland State University to study chemistry and neuroscience. “And then I was able to go on field trips and experience what it’s like to see science in the real world.”
“Being able to listen to other people and their experiences, guest speakers,” was Aho’s favorite part of STEM&M. “And getting involved and being with other kids who had the same interests as me.”
Volpe said he gained knowledge from the guest speakers.
“I’ve got notebooks with an entire page or two every time someone is in here for half an hour at lunch,” he said.
One of the last guest speakers inspired Smith.
“He said we can’t be set on a destination, we have to be willing to take multiple roads,” she said. “It opened my eyes a little more to what I wanted to do.”
Many students said they enjoyed the field trips. Segura, Volpe, Stenkamp, Erdman, Schwind and Browder said they liked the trips the most, to Silicon Valley and Portland’s tech center and Oregon Health & Science University medical school. Yancey’s favorite memory was a trip to Lava Beds National Monument.
Big goals for the future
This class of STEM&M graduates have big plans for their futures. Here are a few examples of how they plan to change the world.
After seeing a documentary about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, Morrow decided she wanted to do something about it.
“I don’t like this, so I’m going to fix it. I want to find an alternative for plastic or find an enzyme that breaks down plastics,” she said. “And found a nonprofit that cleans up the oceans and works on this kind of research.”
Erdman wants to work with virtual and augmented reality.
“I like the potential,” he said. “I see a way to be able to train people for their jobs that give them the hands-on experience they require without giving them the stress to perform it in a real life situation.”
When Smith was 9 years old, a friend of hers was treated at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. It inspired her to be a pediatrician.
“They did everything they could to provide for her and her family, too,” she said. “I just really liked the staff and wanted to help children like that.”
Volpe wants to start a software engineering business in Klamath Falls with two fellow STEM&M students.
“I really like Klamath Falls and I think because it has OIT it deserves a technology industry, so I think it can improve the community,” he said.
Segura wants to pursue a mechanical engineering career outside of Klamath, but eventually return to start his own business in his hometown.
“I enjoy innovating and making things that help others and make life easier for others,” Segura said. “I would like to provide more opportunities for those around me.”
Trey Wortman wants to help people through a career economics and business management.
“I notice many people have financial problems,” he said. “There are very simple things to be done to help many people.”
Stenkamp plans to use his business and accounting degrees to start his own accounting firm and a custom fabrication and hot-rod shop. He said STEM&M helped broaden his horizons.
“I was already on track for my honors diploma, why not get credit and scholarship money for classes I’m already going to take and make the time more worth my while?” He said.
“Knowledge is a weightless treasure. You can have as much as you want, can take it anywhere and it doesn’t weigh anything.”
Press release provided from Klamath County School District.