Students interact with robots and drones at Mount Vernon STEAM Academy’s STEM Day with Pace University

Pace University’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems led robot and drone presentations and a STEAM T-shirt design contest at Mount Vernon STEAM Academy. The school held its STEM Day on Thursday, November 21, 2024. 

Westchester County Legislator Jewel Williams Johnson helped bring this initiative to STEAM Academy to extend the efforts of Pace’s Camp CryptoBot, which receives funding from the Westchester County Board of Legislators. 

“This is providing an opportunity and exposure to all the possibilities and all the careers in STEAM, and this is super important because the diversity in STEAM needs to be increased,” said Legislator Williams Johnson. “The sciences, technology, math and engineering affects all of our lives. The ideas and the slant that comes from a diverse representation in the field will only better all of us.” 

STEM Day started out with a drone presentation, and the drone was flown around the entire auditorium. One lucky student, 10th grader Antwan Carty, won a chance at flying the drone around the room and landing it. He successfully navigated the flight to cheers from his classmates.

“This was a really cool demonstration,” said Antwan. “I think this really helped me be more intrigued by technology and science. I would never think that it would be possible to do that. You see videos of drones in movies, but you don’t really get how difficult it is to make unless you see it in person.”

Rodrigo Torres, an 11th grade student at STEAM, won the STEM Day raffle and took home his very own drone.

“This is really cool,” said Rodrigo Torres, an 11th grade student at STEAM. “I’m totally shocked because I didn’t expect to win. I’m probably going to go outside and play with it in the summer and fly it in the park.” 

The winners of the STEM Day T-shirt contest were then announced, and their art was displayed. Jenny Oliva, art teacher at STEAM, incorporated the competition into her graffiti unit, and 10 finalists were recognized at the event. The top five students received gift cards, and all of the top 10 received certificates and attended an honorary lunch with representatives from Pace and STEAM administrators. Their artwork was created to answer the question, “What does STEAM mean to me?”

Djahena Philidor, ninth-grade student, won first prize and a $150 gift card. Eleventh grader Gustavo Cortizo Monteiro Neves won second place ($100 gift card), 12th grader Nana Frimpong won third place ($75 gift card), 9th grader Eli Forman won fourth place ($50 gift card), and 11th grader Mitravaani Singh won fifth place ($50 gift card).

“I think it’s important to have all aspects. STEAM is math and science, but there are also the arts,” said Jill Forman, mother of fourth place winner Eli Forman and 12th-grade student Aidan Forman. “I think it’s important that all the pieces get addressed – English, art, math, science – and it’s all encompassing. I think they’re all equally important. Every kid has a different interest. Whether their interest is in the arts versus a kid who's maybe more into robotics or more into engineering. I think it’s nice that it can all be fostered and enhanced.”  

Pepper the robot was then demonstrated to the students. The robot introduced itself to the crowd, and several students came to the stage to meet and talk to it. It responded to several of their questions and did a dance for the students.

Students were also introduced to a Jupiter Robot, which is designed to help students learn about training an AI-driven robot. 

“I am very excited for Pace to be here because I love the sciences, I love engineering, I love technology, I love the arts, I love math, I love it all,” said Principal Dr. Christopher Pearce. “To form a new partnership with them where our kids can see what real learning is in real life, especially our robotics team to see the robot Pepper doing its thing. We want to encourage our students to go into the STEM field because STEM is the future. We will coordinate with all of our partners to promote STEM and STEAM, so we’re really happy. This is an ongoing partnership with Pace University.”

Following the robotics presentation, female students were invited to attend a presentation about women in cybersecurity from women in Pace’s cybersecurity program. They discussed how women, specifically minority women, are underrepresented in cybersecurity and other STEM fields.

A panel of experts in math, computer science and engineering then presented to students. The students also prepared questions leading up to STEM Day and participated in a Q+A with the experts. 

Mount Vernon STEAM Academy has several STEM days throughout the year, and this one was made even more engaging for students with Pace’s involvement and Pepper the robot’s dancing. 

Click here to view more photos.