'You Can Be Anything': Osbourn Park Students Help Kids Find Interest In STEM

MANASSAS, VA — For students introduced to the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, there's a chance something outside the classroom stimulated their interest.

Osbourn Park High School student Michelle Marfo became interested in STEM during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she started experimenting with using a computer to make animations. Her classmate and friend Jada Okoye grew up inspired by the African American children's character Doc McStuffins, and she learned dentistry was her career path at age 12 upon observing dentistry employees help patients.

As Prince William County students, they were eligible to apply for Osbourn Park High School to explore STEM opportunities. In the future, Marfo wants to work with computer science and a concentration in artificial intelligence, while Okoye is interested in dentistry with a pediatrics specialization.

But before they delve into STEM careers, they are helping younger children. The two students lead STEM Explorers, a free program with monthly sessions to teach Prince William County K-8 students different aspects of STEM through hands-on activities.

They started STEM Explorers by also founding Osbourn Park High School's Helping Hands Committee, a student club with 120 members to teach members and children about STEM.

"Through the founding of this club, we noticed that we wanted to expand more opportunities for children in STEM," Okoye told Patch. "We were looking around in our area, especially in Woodbridge, lots of STEM programs or STEM centers are very costly, and [there are] many areas that serve underserved children or families that might not make enough income to provide for their children to attend these programs."

Marfo and Okoye believe they could have developed an interest in STEM at a younger age with a program like STEM Explorers. They aim to especially reach minority, underserved and low-income children and open them up to different careers.

"The mission of STEM Explorers is to really just invite kids into the opportunities that some have to offer, especially for underserved, unrepresented kids," Marfo told Patch. "We are from a minority group, and being in a field like this, it's really hard to navigate and try to figure out the best ways, the best methods to get your foot in the door and the fields that we want to get into."

Families in Prince William County can register their children for the free STEM Explorers sessions. The two students reach families through the Helping Hands Committee's partnerships with different schools and organizations, according to Okoye.

The STEM Explorers sessions, open to families in Prince William County, are held on Saturdays to accommodate family schedules. Each session covers a different STEM topic and may be geared toward a certain age group depending on the ages of registered children.

For instance, one session brought in Professor of Chemistry Grace Ndip from Virginia State University. After a lecture about chemistry, they had the children make "elephant toothpaste" out of baking soda, vinegar and food coloring and saw it "explode" out of the tube.

"I wanted to replicate what some chemists do in the lab to the kids," said Marfo. "Because of that, the kids started to felt like, 'oh my gosh, wow.' I think some of the things that we heard during that session was, 'this is so cool. Like, I want to be a chemist like, this is so exciting.' Seeing how their faces lit up when the solution burst, it was just so exciting."

The latest session held last Saturday was an exploring medicine with nurse Douglas Mejia. According to the students, children learned about different aspects of nursing, used a stethoscope on bears with live heart beats and lung sounds and participated in a medical role play activity.

Marfo and Okoya say it's fulfilling when the kids express excitement about the next session. In February, they are considering a computer-focused session with activities like coding for kids.

"Just like how diverse and complex STEM is, you don't have to be a doctor, you don't have to be like an engineer. You can be anything," said Okoye. "STEM encompasses art, technology and math. It's just so broad, you can do so much with it. And I think that's the importance of this program, just to show kids, you don't have to go into one field because you're always hearing about it."

As they plan future STEM activities, the students' goal is to reach more families in Prince William County. Families can stay up to date on future STEM Explorers sessions on Linktree.