The STEMfest! competition at The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art & Technology connects industry, education, and community. This program teaches middle and high school students the importance of real-world math, science, and engineering problem solving and encourages students to pursue careers in STEM-related fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). Local businesses and industry partners collaborate to create Problem Solving Challenges related to their industries. Passionate groups of middle and high school students in the community select one of the challenges to research and develop a solution. Students then present their solution to a panel of judges and awards are presented to the groups with top honors in each Problem Solving Category. Beginning in 2015, the Licking County Foundation began partnering with The Works to provide each member of the three winning high school teams competing in the challenges with a $1,000 college scholarship from the Raymond H. and Beryl Dean Penick Memorial Scholarship Fund of the Licking County Foundation.
The Raymond H. and Beryl Dean Penick Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2009 through a bequest from Mr. Penick, who was a self-employed oil and gas producer. His scholarship supports Licking County high school graduates who want to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math or medicine. The Penick Scholarship has made a significant impact upon the lives of many students - since its creation, the fund has awarded over $1.5 million in scholarships. Through this partnership, Licking County Foundation and The Works hopes to inspire the students who compete in the STEMfest! Problem Solving Challenge to pursue STEM careers with this scholarship support.
Congratulations to the 2018 Challenge Winners:
Wind Turbine Challenge:
Team Always Wind-ing: Ty List, Spencer Kleeh
Plastics/Polymers Challenge:
Lakewood Science Club: Annalora Nguyen, Olivia, Janicki, Anthony Toskin, Korrigan Craddock, Olivia Ogg, Katie Chittum
The Atoms Family: Taylor Jacobs, Carrie Dietz, Anna Fitterer, Clara Britton
Innovative App Challenge:
Goal Diggers: Nic Shannon, Danny Wolfe, Jade Clayton, Noah Corbtett, Kroasten Mangus
Package That Artifact Challenge:
Fab 5: Noah Klinker, Delaney Krygier, Mariah Seevers, Shane Martos, Parker Smart
