On September 24, six selected Concord students were invited to join CSO: Chief Science Officers at Washtenaw Community College. CSO is an organization that helps students in 6th-12th grade be more involved in STEM. Concord is one of the first to join CSO in Region 2 of Michigan. They held the meeting over two days.
On the first day, students were introduced to what and why CSO. Students got packets, icebreakers, and lunch. After lunch, they talked about action plans that are related to STEM. Just before they left they had a spokesperson come in and take a test about leadership. After the spokesperson had left, Concord students headed back to school for the last few minutes. Rihanna Turner shares what she enjoyed most about the day, “ I enjoyed missing school and learning new things.”
On the second day, students got shirts to have for future meetings and to take photos in. Once the photos were taken students signed into a CSO Google Classroom. Afterward, they talked about their STEM action plans and completed the task on Google Classroom. After lunch, Students were able to volunteer to talk about their ideas. Sophomore Dakota Hamilton shared her baking action plan. When asked why she explains, “I picked that as my action plan because it is related to STEM. Baking includes fractions and chemistry which applies to STEM.” Before they left, they received awards for joining and the students thanked them.
Mr. Simmons, the teacher who took the students on the trip explains why it was a great opportunity, “ It offers more insight into STEM activities, networking with other schools, and helps spread the word and awareness about STEM.” Mr. Simmons plans to take next year’s sophomores and juniors in his robotics class again.
Junior Brayden Grindall advises future students who might take the trip next year, “ Be ready for the extra work because you are going to do action plans, other projects, and meetings.”
