Riverton City's 150 Year Celebration

This evening I had the opportunity to serve cake at Riverton City's 150 Year Celebration!  My favorite part was talking to several fifth grade students from the local elementary school (where I presented on the engineering processes and about my Engineering Fair Curriculum) who came up to talk to me about their engineering fair projects! 

Last year, Midas Creek Elementary had 30 engineering fair entries based off of my Engineering Fair Curriculum and three projects went to the Central Utah Engineering and Science Fair.  This year, there were over 100 engineering projects and over 30 students were selected to move on to the district science and engineering fair!

Girl Scouts of the USA's 2014 National Convention

 As a special guest of the Alcoa Foundation, I was invited to attend Girl Scouts of the USA's 2014 National Convention in Salt Lake City in October 2014.  I was invited as a special guest of the Alcoa Foundation for winning the Alcoa Chuck McLane Scholarship.  The scholarship is awarded to two graduating Girl Scouts who completed a Gold Award involving STEM; not only will we receive financial support, but we also are also mentored by an Alcoa employee during our freshman year of college.

While I was attending the National Convention, I spoke at the VIP Reception about how being involved with Girl Scouts has shaped who I am today.  It was a wonderful opportunity to not only promote my Engineering Fair Curriculum, but to also share how Girl Scouts of the USA's STEM initiative shaped who I am today.

I also spoke at the theme dinner: "Imagine Your STEM Future!"  I explained my Gold Award, authoring the Engineering Fair Curriculum, distributing the Curriculum nationwide, and described current student engineering projects.  After the dinner, I was approached by community members and Girl Scout leadership from across the United States who wanted to utilize my Curriculum in their programming!  

I would like to thank the Alcoa Foundation and Girl Scouts of the USA for the opportunity to attend and speak at the 2014 National Convention.

"What's Up in Riverton?"

I had the opportunity to share my platform, STEM Not Only for Men, at the free community event, "What's Up in Riverton?" on Saturday, September 20 from 11 AM - 2 PM at Riverton City Hall by the Riverton City Library. 

At my booth South Hills Middle School's MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) club helped make Ziploc ice cream and taught children and adults about the science behind homemade ice cream and held science demonstrations.

I also had past Engineering Fair projects on display and promoted the engineering process and my Engineering Fair Curriculum.  Additionally, I promoted the University of Utah College of Science program called "The ACCESS Program for Women in Science and Mathematics," which I participated in during the 2014 Summer semester at the University of Utah.

I would like to thank our generous sponsor:
The University of Utah College of Science

Engineering Fair Assemblies and the Science Behind "Day and Night"

This morning I had the opportunity to travel to a local elementary school in the Jordan School District and read to a Kindergarten class about the science behind "Day and Night."

They were a bright class and were very interested in the science behind the recent tetrad eclipses as well as the 'Blood Moon.'  For those curious about the 'Blood Moon,' the Earth casts a shadow which is red on the very edges (caused from angle of scattered light from the Sun).  When the moon goes into this area, reflects the red color.

After reading to the class, I presented at two assemblies for fifth and sixth grade students about the engineering process as well as encouraging students to take their ideas and apply for the Engineering Fair mini-grants.

Riverton City Troll Stroll

On Friday my Second Attendant and I had the opportunity to volunteer at Riverton City's Troll Stroll 5K!  

We were positioned at the turn around point where the water and Gatorade station is!  I dressed up as the "Queen of Hearts."

Tomorrow I will be visiting a local elementary school in Riverton to talk about my platform as well as promote the Engineering process! 

Smart Women Smart Money Grant Interview

Today I had a wonderful opportunity to interview at KUED's Broadcast Station today with Zions Smart Women Smart Money grants!

This year marks 10 years of Zions Smart Women Smart Money grants and over $200,000 given to women to make a difference in their communities.

I received the 2010 and 2013 Smart Women Smart Money grants to provide students nationwide with the opportunity to participate in STEM opportunities and mentoring.  During the interview, I talked about the amazing opportunities students have to participate in Engineering Fair Curriculum because of the generous funding available.

STEM Princess

Last weekend I had the opportunity to pose with my crown and lab coat in order to capture my platform, STEM Not Only for Men, on camera.

I am currently going to school to become a Mechanical Engineer, I aspire to work for NASA or in the private aerospace sector.  My STEM classes for this Fall are:Honors General Chemistry, General Chem lab, Calculus I, and Survey of Engineering. 

I visited The Leonardo Museum in Downtown Salt Lake City today; The Leonardo is very focused on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math).  In their Engineering Lab, my favorite sign read:

"Engineering comes from the Latin word for cleverness.  Engineers find problems and then find solutions.  Engineering is thinking with your hands: designing, experimenting, tinkering, testing, and even failing until you find the solution that works."

Participate in Engineering Fair today!