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New Opportunities in STEM
Magnificat’s offerings in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—or STEM—are continuing to expand this year thanks to strategic partnerships with outside organizations. Under the leadership of Dean of Faculty and Academics Colleen Greller, faculty members are providing students with new opportunities in medicine, field research, drones, and robotics during the 2023-2024 school year.
“Interdisciplinary learning is a key part of Magnificat’s holistic approach to education, and STEM programs are an excellent way to bring together multiple areas of study,” Mrs. Greller said. “With women still underrepresented in STEM fields, we are strongly committed as a girls’ school to exposing our students to engaging STEM programs during their formative high school years.”
STEM Goes RED for Girls
In October, Magnificat took a group of students to STEM Goes Red for Girls at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Sponsored by the American Heart Association, the day-long event introduced girls in Grades 7-9 to leading STEM companies and organizations, including University Hospitals, NASA, Avient, and Lubrizol. The program consisted of a hands-on exhibitor fair, speed mentoring, and educational classes.
“I enjoyed being able to hold a pig heart, going to the different vendor stations to see some applications of engineering in everyday items, and talking to different women and hearing their experiences working in STEM fields,” Sabrina Syed ’27 said. “By participating, I’ve gained more insight into different STEM careers and the many fields that could benefit from having more women in them, which was very inspiring.”
The American Heart Association holds similar events around the country as part of an effort to increase the number of women entering STEM careers, especially in healthcare. Participants are eligible to apply for scholarships to major in a STEM-related field in college or to attend a vocational or technical trade institution.
NASA Capstone Project
Two Magnificat juniors have been selected to participate in a year-long NASA Glenn Research Center capstone project, which connects NASA professionals with high school students to engage in STEM-based research. Grace Cooke ’25 and Mengxin Deng ’25 are conducting hydrology field research to determine water quality at Rocky River Scenic Park, taking weekly samples to determine dissolved oxygen, nitrate, electrical conductivity, and pH levels. They are uploading their findings into the NASA GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) database.
“I am learning many things such as the nitrogen cycle, rates of efficiency for photosynthesis depending on raw reactants, and proper fieldwork lab procedures,” Grace said. “The beauty of this project is that it allows us to apply what we are learning in AP Environmental Science and AP Biology to the real world around us and see these processes and their contributions in real-time.”
Supervised by science faculty members Nina Stanfar and Rob Ryan, the students perform laboratory testing at Magnificat and meet biweekly with a NASA mentor to discuss progress and results. They will tour NASA Glenn’s facilities and present their scientific findings in April.
“Doing research in this project is giving me a good sense of what research might be like in the future of my career, as I do want to go into a STEM-related major in college,” Mengxin said.
Robotics Team
Magnificat launched the second all-girls robotics team in Northeast Ohio this winter to participate in the 2024 FIRST Robotics Competition. The rookie team of mostly ninth and tenth graders started building its base robot in January and meets 8-12 hours a week to continually enhance the design and programming until its first competition, the Buckeye Regional, in March.
FIRST Robotics is a global non-profit organization that holds team-based robotics programs from students ages 4 to 18. The high school level competitions are held locally, regionally, and nationally with eligibility based on scores in difficult field games played with industrial-sized robots. Students develop brands for their teams, including a creative name, logo, and website.
Magnificat’s team mentors are James Millar and JC Froelich, who have welcomed Magnificat students onto their St. Edward High School team over the years and were approached by FIRST representatives to consider starting a team at Magnificat. Their participation expectations were far exceeded when 30 girls came to the inaugural meeting in December, considering the time commitment is comparable to playing a sport. Like athletics, the experience builds skills beyond welding and programming, such as teamwork, sportsmanship, and commitment.
“We’re just super excited,” James said. “We love everything about the culture that Magnificat promotes for its students.”
Aerial Drone Team
Magnificat received a grant from the REC Foundation to start an Aerial Drone Team and participate in drone flying competitions. Equipped with six drones, a set of course obstacles, and directions on how this year’s game is structured, students are learning to operate and maintain small drones and work together as a team.
“The drone competition is set up as a group activity,” said Data and Information Systems Manager Keith McMillan, who serves as the club moderator. “There’s a lot of group decision making, group dynamics, leadership, and follow through that they’re going to be working on, as well as drones are in just about every industry these days—so the understanding and ability to fly even a very basic drone can really translate to an interest in the future.”
The competitions involve maneuvering the drone through obstacles, moving ping pong balls using the drone’s downdraft, and precisely landing on objects within time constraints. Students are tested on four challenges: piloting the course with another team; an autonomous flight programmed with Python or block coding; flying through an obstacle course as one team to earn as many points as possible in one minute; and communicating with judges about their drone, programming, and competition logbook. Magnificat may form as many as four teams made up of three to five members, with competitions starting in February.
