SMS STEM students excel at competition
Posted on 11/30/2023
(SPS) -- The University of Tulsa held its 6th annual Native American STEM Competition and Teacher Conference on November 17th. The one-day competition featured challenges in mathematics, science, engineering and technology. Hundreds of students from across the state participated-- and each team was required to be comprised of a majority of Native American students.
The challenge included all-girl, all-boy and co-ed divisions, encouraging active participation among students and strong collaboration within teams, according to Dr. David Brown at the University of Tulsa, who organized the challenge program.
"We had two teams place first at the challenge day," said Mrs. Janet Johnson, Sapulpa Middle School STEM Instructor. "Both teams had only 7th graders, so they did an amazing job beating 8th and 9th graders."
Sapulpa Middle School's teams won the all-girl 6th through 9th grade division and the co-ed 6th through 9th grade division.
"A variety of interactive, hands-on challenges, as well as a scientific poster competition, increase STEM and climate/meteorological awareness, inspire creativity, and engage the cultural sensitivity of participants," said a press release about the event.
Teachers who attended with their students took part in a conference on how to implement inclusivity alongside STEM in their classrooms.
Congratulations, students!