Third Class of STEM Career Exploration High School Fellows Selected
Three Additional Montgomery County, MD, High Schools Are Represented
The third class of high school students to participate in a Washington, D.C., area fellowship program that enables them to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) was announced today by the Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation.
The 13 new Fellows are from four public and private high schools in Montgomery County, an expansion to three new schools for the program. They join 36 students from the first and second fellowship classes. Several of the initial Fellows have begun college and are focusing on STEM subjects. All Fellows in the class of 2022-2023 are sophomores:
Poolesville High School (Poolesville): Nathaniel Chen
Richard Montgomery High School (Rockville):Anvika Deva, Victoria Dziasek, Eva-Jessy Guech, Sailaja Kadali, Akshya Mahadevan, Ami Mundra, Erica Muragaki, Tillman Peters
Sherwood High School (Sandy Spring): Charlotte Milner, Lily Mosisa, Caroline Sullivan
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (Rockville): Moshe Lederman
The Fellows are promising high school students who enjoy science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and are curious to learn more about exciting potential careers in these areas. They range from those who already aim to pursue a STEM career but have not yet identified a specialty to other students who are only beginning to consider the possibility of STEM-based higher education and careers.
Fellows meet with STEM leaders, visit leading STEM institutions in the DC area, and access peers and mentors to support career exploration in STEM. Even though most events to date have been held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the small group online sessions are interactive and include a diverse group of speakers from around the country.
For three semesters the Fellows take part in events that offer close-up views of careers in which STEM education is a solid foundation – from laboratory researchers and those in “traditional” science and engineering careers to others who use their STEM backgrounds in sports management, arts and entertainment, business and finance, and journalism. To date, Fellows have visited laboratories at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and spoken with an astronaut/engineer/lawyer who recently travelled to space, cybersecurity expert, a chemistry executive and science communicator, a computer scientist who is vice president of a digital advertising company, a chemist/bioscientist who manages a program which made major contributions to the science behind COVID-19 vaccines, a doctor practicing obstetrics and gynecology, an economist who manages all social science programs at the National Science Foundation, an engineer working in a senior marketing position with a medical equipment manufacturer, another engineer who is the chief technology officer of a major digital media company, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist, and a government climate specialist and communicator.
The non-profit Foundation conducts its work in memory and honor of Sandra Lee Heyman, who taught mathematics at the community college, high school, and middle school level in Montgomery County (MD), Fairfax County (VA), and New Providence (NJ). She passed away in 1998 due to an autoimmune blood disease. The Foundation was formed by Sandra’s family to honor her memory and extend her legacy.
Volunteers interested in being considered as a guest speaker, host for a field trip, or mentor can find more information here: https://www.theslhfoundation.org/volunteer
For more information, visit: www.theslhfoundation.org or email Foundation Board Chair Mat Heyman: mat@theslhfoundation.org