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HFCA Prepares and Celebrates Future Women in STEM Careers

Holy Family Catholic Academy (Inverness), recognized nationally for its innovative curriculum was recently honored by being named the first middle school in the State of Illinois to earn AdvancED STEM Certification.

One of the eleven rigorous criteria of the certification process is a measure of the school's efforts to recognize and support underrepresented students in STEM. One such identified group has been middle school girls.

For decades, researchers have struggled to explain the reasons middle school girls lose interest in math and science. While women constitute 50% of the US college-educated workforce, the 2018 Science and Engineering Indicators published by the National Science Board (https://nsf.gov/statistics/2018) states women represent only 15% of engineers and 26% of computer and mathematical scientists.

With this as a backdrop, HFCA is especially thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of their STEM-focused middle school girls. Last week, the all-girl team of Lily Burger, Natalie McHone, Sarah Graham, Rachel Salani, and Ashlee Sterling won second place in Carmel Catholic High School's Middle School Math Competition which hosts 19 public and Catholic schools. These girls, plus Ava VonderHaar, not present for the math competition, will have completed Algebra, Advanced Algebra, and an elective course of high school Honors Geometry upon graduating from HFCA this year.

States John Titterton, Carmel's Engineering Department Chair, "Carmel applauds the accomplishments of HFCA's all-girl grade 8 math team. Like HFCA, Carmel is committed to identifying ways to support and challenge women students interested in STEM careers." Starting in 2018-19, Carmel's Engineering Program, in collaboration with the University of Iowa will offer a dual credit All Women's Introduction to Engineering Class open to students in grades 9-12.

Members of HFCA's team are all considering STEM careers and attribute the interactive, hands-on teaching style at HFCA with piquing their curiosity and interest. HFCA exposes students to a wide range of engineering and design concepts through a rotation of 12 STEM modules over the course of middle school. Rachel Salani explained, "Being able to actually design and create a prototype of a hand in my bioengineering class was really amazing, and right now I am thinking of majoring in bioengineering in college.

Natalie, Sarah, Rachel and Ashlee plan to attend Fremd High School next year and all have been accepted into Fremd's STEM-focused Project Lead the Way Program, a nationwide, prestigious, hands-on engineering program offered to select incoming freshman.

"We are so proud of our students," states HFCA Principal, Kate O'Brien. "We are thrilled to be the first middle school program in the state to earn STEM Certification, but the true measure of our program is seeing our students recognized by top area high schools for their hard work and STEM knowledge."

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