Students Experience University STEM Lab

Story by Salena Featherstone

Andrews University (Mich.) recently hosted its annual SciFest 2019 STEM weekend where students, including juniors and seniors from Takoma Academy and Pine Forge Academy were invited to create experiments in a college STEM laboratory.

Students toured the campus, participated in laboratory challenges and met with faculty from the university’s STEM team. Some TA students got the opportunity to use the flight simulator in the Aviation Department. Many agree that one of the most exciting moments of the trip was when one of the chemistry professors filled balloons with gases, and then blew them up.

Gabrielle Francis, Darius Hardie, Nathan Castro, Moriah Franklin-McGruder, Chandra Smith, STEM teacher Shaun Robinson (pictured, back row, left to right); and Kennedi Beckett, Kristi Barnes, John Alberty, Kendall Crawford and Katherine Pierre (front row, left to right) represented TA in the finale event—the Science Bowl. Questions ranged from the habits of crickets to how far light can travel through the galaxy.

“We didn’t win this time, but we know what to do next year. We’ll be back,” says junior Crawford.