To interact with younger students interested in science, technology, engineering and math, members of the STEM Mentorship Association volunteered at the science fairs at Boyer and Rucker Elementary Schools this month.

STEMMA’s mission is to interact with younger students by helping them learn about STEM. The term STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Freshman Arushima Swaroop, president of the club, and science teacher Ramona Gordon, the sponsor, started STEMMA in September. Members hold meetings every Thursday during Eagle Time. In STEMMA, high school students interact with elementary school students in STEM-related activities by mentoring, tutoring and volunteering at STEM-based events.

“I feel like I just need to spread awareness on STEM,” Swaroop said. “At my old school, that was what everything was based on. And, I was like, ‘Okay. We need more STEM.'”

Members of STEMMA helped out with the science fairs at Boyer and Rucker Elementary Schools on Mar. 2.

“We gained so much exposure and got to interact with amazing young minds,” Swaroop said. “We got to ask questions and see them talk about science. We all gained experience which we can take with us to other situations, like leadership and collaboration.”

After creating the club, the founders sought the district’s approval.

“Mrs. Gordon emailed a bunch of people, and she emailed the head of the district,” Swaroop said. “And, the head of the district really liked our idea, so she contacted all of the individual elementary schools to integrate STEMMA.”

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Parents can sign their children up for STEMMA tutoring through their elementary school.

“We are in contact with the STEM teachers at elementary schools, and then we have the parents who sign their kids up for it via the elementary school itself,” Swaroop said. “And, for the parents who sign their kids up for it, we group the kids up by grade level from all of the elementary schools, and we have a group of high school students who mentor them.”

In the beginning, Gordon said she wasn’t certain she should be the sponsor.

“There have been some times where I sponsor stuff in the past, and it hasn’t always panned through,” Gordon said. “Or, it was always me-driven, not student-driven, and I only said, ‘Yes’ because the kids were so adamant and headstrong. So, I felt like it was in good hands. If I wasn’t there, they could just lead the way.”

Freshman Sai Charan Tej Gadham Setty said that the club can sometimes feel very slow.

“At times, being a member of STEMMA is a bit uneventful and lackluster,” Gadham Setty said. “We just completed a major project, but now we have next to nothing to work on.”

However, Swaroop has big plans for the future of STEMMA.

“Since this is the first year, we didn’t have a lot of things planned,” Swaroop said. “Next year, we are definitely going into marketing, and more outreach, and more tutoring and more expanding.”

Gordon said her favorite part of being the sponsor is seeing members of STEMMA be passionate and come up with ideas.

“They come to me with ideas, so it’s nice to see that it’s not always an adult coming up with this and telling them all what do,” Gordon said. “They’re the ones with the reins, so they’re the ones behind the wheel. I’m just the passenger to make sure that it all goes in the right direction.”