Students explore science, engineering at WSCC’s YES Days
MARIETTA — From eating crickets to driving cars to even learning about rockets, seventh-graders across the area were given the chance to do it all on Friday.
For the last 24 years, Washington State Community College has partnered up with local businesses and companies to present Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) Days for seventh-graders from different schools.
“YES Days is an opportunity for students to explore different areas of science and engineering,” said YES Days Director Mary Lou Moegling.
More than 800 seventh-graders attended this week from schools including Marietta, Caldwell, Frontier, Waterford, Shenandoah, Fort Frye, Belpre, St. John Central, Warren, St. Marys and Cornerstone Cooperation.
Thirty-five stations were set up on the campus of Washington State on Thursday and Friday for students. These stations included Solvay Specialty Polymers, Washington Soil and Water Conservation, NASA Glenn Research Center, Thermo Fisher Scientific, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and more. Washington State Community College also had representatives from departments in the school such as electrical engineering technology, geoscience, mechanical engineering, welding, digital technology, auto mechanics, nursing, physics, chemistry, criminal justice, medical laboratory technology, biology, psychology, and the art club. Each station provided an activity to engage students in potential careers or educational opportunities in the area.
Warren Middle School student Alyssa Pickerton, 12, said YES Days was thought-provoking.
“I like seeing new careers I never knew of,” she said.
Her friends Abbie Smith, 12, and Carly McCutcheon, 12, agreed.
“It’s nice to learn new stuff about electricity,” said Smith.
“The 3-D printer was really cool,” said McCutcheon.
Washington State Community College’s digital technology department showed the students how a 3-D printer works and printed out 3-D shapes and objects to show them first-hand.
“This program isn’t just informative for students but it is a great marketing tool for all the presenters,” said Jesse Daubert, environmental scientist with Pickering Associates.
Pickering Associates was there showing the students how to use the technology they use within the environmental science field.
The Washington Soil and Water Conservation District had an activity explaining how maps are a key concept in conservation.
“This hands-on activity puts the skills these seventh graders learned through elementary school to use,” said Kathy Davis, storm water coordinator for the Washington Soil and Water Conservation District.
The Ohio Division of Transportation brought a virtual car driving game, allowing students to try to drive while also being distracted. This was a favorite of a lot of the students.
“We are showing them how distracted driving affects safety while briefly going over familiar traffic signs,” said Eric Davis, transportation engineer for ODOT.
Fort Frye seventh-grader Lilli Schilling, 13, said the car driving was her favorite.
“I liked driving the car but the Silly Putty was also really cool,” she said.
Solvay Specialty Polymers let the students make Silly Putty from glue, starch and food coloring. Making the Silly Putty showed the students how mixing different liquids can make a solid, like they do to make their plastics.
Some students even tried Chipotle-flavored grasshoppers as part of Washington State’s biology program’s presentation. The idea of this presentation was to inform students about insects in the area and how eating grasshoppers isn’t bad for you at all.
“It kind of tasted like a deep-fried sunflower,” said Dylan Misel, 12, who is a Warren student.
Many students also found it beneficial in terms of thinking ahead in their lives.
“YES Days give us an opportunity for the future,” said Fort Frye seventh-grader Julia Zalmanek, 12. “It’s fun and we learn about more careers.”
YES Days go on every year for the new seventh-grade classes and will continue in the future.
“The really neat thing is that about one-third of the presenters here this year were YES Days students in the past,” said Moegling.
Washington State has worked hard in coordination with everyone who participated in the event.
“I was a YES Days student back in the day and now I am here working it,” said Jordan Sampson, 32, a recent graduate of Washington State. “It’s good to get these kids interested while they’re young and it’s critical.”