By Anthony Howard
The Jackson State University’s College of Science, Engineering, and Technology welcomed 25 high school girls to the Louis Stokes Mississippi Alliance for Minority Participation (LSMAMP) Girl STEM Summer Program. The program aims to introduce and teach girl ninth – 12th-graders the significance of science in their daily lives and how innovation and technological development is needed nationally and globally.
“There aren’t that many girls who study engineering, so our goal is to teach them early for them to start liking engineering,” explained Martha N. Tchounwou, Ph.D., director of Student Support Services. “We teach them robotics, physics, chemistry, and public speaking.”
Tchounwou has worked with the LSMAMP for over 25 years and is currently the statewide program director. The program is sponsored by Jackson State University, Nissan and Lockheed Martin. The CSET girls’ summer program has created a meaningful and intentional connection with high schools around the Jackson area to strengthen the girls’ academic outcomes in and out of school.
Since the program’s inception in 2017-2018, 235 girls have attended the academy, and 62 have graduated from high school and enrolled in college. Of the 62 girls enrolled in college, 48 are majoring in STEM. The remaining students are still in high school.
“I came to see what I actually wanted to do and to get a broad and collegiate experience,” said Karyn Paige, a junior at Germantown High School. “I want to be a biochemist because I’ve always been interested in working in a lab, and I’m having fun.”
During the four-week program, the students took short courses in biology, chemistry, math, physics, Introduction to Computer Science, and basic programming. The girls learned about laboratory safety, networking, career sorting, integration, and leadership skills. The students are offered academic tutoring and ACT preparation courses throughout the school year.
