Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) and Rockwood Partners in Education will be hosting a free STEM Night tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Dr. Cathy Farrar, science teacher and HOSA sponsor, said that a major goal for HOSA is to promote science-related fields to younger students, and STEM Night is a way to do that.
“We have several goals as an organization, one of which is to promote science,” Dr. Farrar.
In addition to HOSA, several other organizations will participate with their own tables and displays, including the National Science Honor Society, the Robotics team, the St. Louis Science Center and even the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Additionally, local community members help out with the event, including the Metro West Fire Department that will be teaching CPR and emergency response.
Previously hosted in December, the event was moved up to avoid scheduling conflicts with other events in the same month, said Dr. Farrar.
Seniors Navin Ramamoorthy, HOSA president, and Sathya Srigiri, vice president, have been working with others in the club to organize this event and grow its impact.
“In previous years for HOSA, we’ve had tables where three people volunteer to sit there and show the little kids sheep parts and sheep eyes, stuff like that,” Ramamoorthy said.
Ramamoorthy said they’re trying to get more clubs to attend and people involved with STEM Night this year.
“It’s definitely getting more popular every year,” Ramamoorthy said. “When we were in middle school, I didn’t know that much, so I wish I had the opportunity to.”
Srigiri said the increase in popularity could be attributed to better advertising for the event.
“We all post about it and make sure that our neighbors know about it, people who have younger kids,” Srigiri said. “Since it has become such a bigger event, they’ll invite whole schools.”
Srigiri said that, overall, there has been a greater focus on making sure everyone feels invited.
“We’re definitely trying to get more people to come and more clubs involved around the school,” Srigiri said.
