Celebrating National STEM Day
November 8th is National STEM Day. Science, technology, engineering and math are academic disciplines that enable students (no matter their age) to solve problems using the tools of the future. Problem-solving is our mission here at Building Momentum and we are celebrating STEM day by sharing just one of many stories of how STEM has impacted our community as we continue to help people emerge as problem solvers and future STEM leaders.
When 25-year-old Kaitlin Santiago joined George Washington University’s Prototyping & Fabrication virtual course earlier this semester, she had no idea she would be putting her skills to use in the real world a few weeks later.
On September 15, shortly after virtual courses began, Hurricane Sally devastated the Florida panhandle region, resulting in major power outages in Kaitlin’s town in Pensacola County. Without power or internet access, Kaitlin could not attend virtual classes at GW.
She reached out to her professor, Cheyanne Dwyer, to report her absences and Cheyanne immediately sprung into action as she has done countless times before and teaches others to do as well. Cheyanne is an Associate Professor at GW but her main role is International Director of Education here at Building Momentum. The very core of our company revolves around swift problem solving and Cheyanne knew that with a few pieces of technology and an overnight FedEx delivery, she could empower Kaitlin to be back up and running in no time.
Cheyanne led our team in assembling a palette of solar panels, batteries and other electronics and shipped it all to Kaitlin with detailed instructions on how to get the system up and running. Kaitlin was able to get power to her devices and those of her friends in family in a matter of hours. They tapped into their mobile hotspots in order to get online and attend classes. Kaitlin was even able to leverage cell phone access to continue to run her nonprofit, Snack Pack Kids, which delivers meals to kids in need in Washington DC, New Jersey and Florida.
Kaitlin continues to leverage her STEM and problem solving skills for good, and is working on creating desk packages for students in north Florida who need a dedicated space for virtual learning in their homes.
We’re excited to launch After Zoom, a class that young people in the DMV can attend to learn how to use the latest STEM technology to invent and innovate. Learn more about the program and secure tickets here.