Miss Briana Kinsey, a junior majoring in Biology/ Pre-medicine at the University of Alabama and a participant in the upcoming Miss Alabama Pageant hosted a Super Saturday STEM SUMMIT for girls in the 7th thru 12th grades to expose them to successful women in Stem career fields. The purpose of this event was to empower and encourage girls to increase their interest in science, technology, engineering and math and to see that by pursuing these courses they can have a rewarding future career.
This event took place on Saturday, May 10th on the beautiful campus of Samford University from Noon-4p.m. in the Christenberry Planetarium. Collaborating sponsors of the event were EYES, Incorporated, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing outstanding opportunities for learning and discovery in STEM and self-awareness(info@enrichingyouths.com) and the Tri-County (Alabama) Links, Incorporated.
The summit featured Miss America 2005, Dr. Deidre Downs who provided the keynote address. Following the opening address, the girls attended four workshops with 21 successful women in various stem careers including Dr. Jaime McKinney – Pediatrician; Dr. Janice Jackson – Dentist; Wendy Anger – Registered Nurse; Dr. Maria Foster-Owens – Veterinarian; Jana Drummond – Ph.D Candidate in Psychology; Harmony Medoza – Meterologist at NBC 13; Cathy Kennedy Floyd – Engineer/ MBA; Rhonda Allen – Engineer; Dr. Susanne S. Matthews – Pediatrician; Dr. Denise Gregory – Samford Chemistry Professor; Ann Heard – Registered Dietition;Tandy Dolin Petrov – Biology Graduate Student; Wardine Towers Alexander – Medical Technologist; Dr. Velda D. Pugh – Psychiatrist; Dr. Mamta Parikh – Pharmacist; Angela Lake – Biomedical Engineer; Dr. Latisha Marbuary – Optometrist ; Amanda Plain – Ph.D Candidate in Chemistry; Marjorie Driver – Computer Programmer; Tamiko Lake – Chair, EYES,Inc. and Dr. Rochelle Chijioke – Emergency Physician.
Girls from 25 different schools were able to take advantage of the opportunities to explore stem courses in order to be prepared for the myriad of options available to them in these areas. Briana Kinsey was excited to award the 1st Super Saturday Stem Summit Scholarship to one of the summit attendees, Simuka Leonard, a 10th grader at Cristo Rey Holy Family High School to attend the Minority Youth Science Academy which is a three-day residential Summer Stem Camp (Howard.Samford.edu/mysa.) hosted by Dr. Denise Gregory, Chemistry Professor and Director of diversity and intercultural initiatives at Samford University.
STEM careers offer women the opportunity to engage in some of the most exciting realms of discovery and technological innovation. Increasing opportunities for women in these fields is an important step towards realizing greater economic success and equality for women across the board and begins with planting the seeds of success early in the minds of elementary, middle and high school girls.
