Stephen F. Austin STEM Academy 7th Induction Ceremony (Photo by ANDY ADAMS/Lufkin ISD)
The Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) STEM Academy held its 7th induction at the Tom Jack Lucas Auditorium tonight, honoring the 31 Lufkin High School students who were selected through a rigorous academic process.
To be selected for the program, students fill out an application and provide an essay, go through an interview and obtain a teacher recommendation.
Dr. Jana Redfield, assistant director of the STEM Research and Learning Center at SFA, addressed the parents, family members, staff and students about the program, and shared some of the information that the students provided to be selected for the academy. She said many of the students want to have future careers in engineering, computers/technology and the medical field.
The STEM Academy provides labs at SFA that will cover a range of topics from biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and nursing, all with the emphasis of showing students a number of available STEM careers.
Redfield talked about the jobs the students want to have, ranging from marine biology to working at NASA. The students showed interest in attending the Naval Academy, becoming an architect and becoming a plastic surgeon.
“This is an exciting time because STEM jobs will be there,” she said.
Lynn Torres, superintendent of Lufkin ISD, told the group how thankful she was to be helping celebrate the students for their academic achievement.
“The STEM Academy is one of the most successful academic programs at Lufkin High School,” she said.
Lufkin High School Principal Brandon Boyd echoed Torres’ sentiments.
Suzy Jungmann, Lufkin High School STEM coordinator, recognized STEM students who accumulated the most volunteer hours during the 2019-20 school year.
“The STEM students have accumulated 2,017 hours from August 2019 to February 2020, participating with 10 different community partners,” she said. “The top volunteers accumulated 407 of those hours.”
The evening wrapped up with remarks by Dr. John Moore, SFA Professor Emeritus, Chemistry and Biochemistry, who expressed how proud he was of the students in the cohort.
STUDENTS WITH TOP VOLUNTEER HOURS:
STEM 1
- Julia Cabrera – 55 hours
- Jessica Escobedo – 55 hours
- Ashley Galvan – 62 hours
STEM 2
- Jennifer DeLaGarza – 46 hours
- Anna Lin – 42.5 hours
STEM 3
- Minhal Khan – 36.5 hours
- Hiba Siddiqui – 35.5 hours
STEM 4
- Hilda Cuello – 28.5 hours
- Kimberly Ly – 23 hours
- Diana Zepeta – 23.5 hours
STEM INDUCTEES
JOHN ALEXANDER
AVERY BASSIN
BLAKE BUCHANAN
NATHAN BULL
DEZAHLIA CHACON
CHARLOTTE DEATON
IAN FALCON
MADISON GREAK
JESSICA HADNOT
SADIE HAMMACK
MADDYN HARTZOG
KENADY HATHORN
AERIN HINCKLEY
OMARIA HOBSON
ELIANNA ILO
DEEPNA KANJEE
EESHA KUMAR
ALYSSA LUNA
MICHAEL MATHIS
AGUSTINA MEZZANO
RISHONA MOPUR
ARIA NELSON
LESLIE ORTA
GERALD PINEDA
GRACIE PRINCE
CHRISTOPHER RUSH
ALEJANDRA SARABIA
KYLIE STEWART
JAYLA THOMPSON
SKYE WYCKOFF
EMILY ZHENG