Congratulations to 7th-grader Zoe Whalen on her 1st place win at the 23rd Annual Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) Statewide Student Conference, held March 24-26 in Albany.
Zoe placed 1st in the Human Services - Junior Division of the competition among seven other research poster projects. Zoe's research examined mental health and the effects of caffeine.
This was Zoe’s first year in Clarkson University’s STEP program. She worked hard with her coach and math teacher, Mrs. Jamie Bush, on developing and disseminating an anonymous survey to students to collect data for her research. She then worked with Professor Alexander Shreiber to graph the data in a meaningful way and then analyzed the data to finalize her results.
The conference hosted students, professors and chaperones representing 46 different NYS colleges and universities. Along with presenting their research, students participating in the conference attended workshops relating to preparing for college, listened to some interesting speakers, networked with other students, and had some great food and fun. Clarkson’s STEP program (IMPETUS) sent four students to the STEP conference this year. Along with Zoe and Mrs. Bush they also sent three students from Harrisville Central, Nadia, Maia and Richard, with Coach Nicole Taylor. The students and coaches were accompanied by Program Coordinator Lyanne Garcia-Boswell, Dr. Kathleen Kavanagh and Professor Alexander Shreiber.
