Stennis partners with local school to teach STEM
Published 10:42 am Monday, April 14, 2014
By JORDON CROUCH | Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class, USS John C. Stennis
Sailors assigned to Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis partnered with Mullenix Ridge Elementary School to teach children about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) on April 10.
The event, part of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility STEM Outreach program, was designed to increase student interest in a STEM related field.
“We’re here to interact with the children and hopefully get them interested in STEM,” said Lt. William Fleming, from Broken Arrow, Okla. “We’re teaching them the basics of science and engineering, which is something I’m really passionate about.”
Stennis volunteers taught students how to create a bristlebot, a category of robot made by attaching the bristles from a detached toothbrush head to a pager motor and battery.
“It’s important for the students to understand they can take a set of unusual elements and create something unique,” said fourth-grade teacher Shirley Silvernail.
“I think that we inspired a few future engineers,” said Cryptologic Technician Collection 2nd Class Melvin Woods, from Durham, N.C.
