high school – Seidenberg School News

Fifth STEM Camp kicks off at Pace University’s Seidenberg School

On Friday, July 7th, 2017, the 5th annual STEM Collaboratory NYC’s STEM Camp kicked off as a cohort of bright and ambitious high school students walked through the Seidenberg School’s doors.

The 26 students, who were carefully selected from 109 applications, will spend the next two weeks with us for an intensive summer experience that will include delving into programming with python, understanding data science, using design thinking approaches for projects, and having massive amounts of fun!

On Day 1, the day began with a brief intro to camp and the Seidenberg School. Program manager Olga Bogomolova got everyone acquainted with an opening presentation and the infamous name game, where everybody cements one another’s names in their heads through a creative repetition game. It works!

Dr. Lauren Birney welcomes our STEM Campers for 2017!

Dr. Lauren Birney of Pace University’s School of Education (a partner in STEM Camp!) greeted the students. “You are the cream that rises to the top,” she told them, adding that they should be proud they were selected for the program. Dr. Birney added that the program would be challenging, however “every challenge we get is another opportunity to get further in our careers.”

Students spent the afternoon getting an introduction to python programming language with Dr. Christelle Scharff, chair of the computer science department.

STEM camp is organized and managed by Olga Bogomolova and offers Seidenberg and fellow Pace students the opportunity to mentor campers individually and in groups. The following two weeks will include more coding, project-based learning, a trip to the Billion Oyster Project on Governor’s Island to learn data analytics, museum visits, and more. Stay tuned to hear all about it and check out Seidenberg social media for pics!

Dr Jean Coppola inducted into St Francis Prep Hall of Fame

Superstar faculty member Dr. Jean Coppola was inducted into the St. Francis Preparatory School Hall of Fame on April 23, 2016. The school’s Hall of Fame honors alumni that have gone on to set an excellent example for others to follow, and who “continue to live their lives in the true Franciscan spirit.”

Dr. Coppola was selected due to her significant lifetime achievement and service, much of which has taken place here at the Seidenberg School. Dr. Coppola directs our gerontechnology research and oversees the annual Mobile App Development Bowl, a massive event that sees teams from high schools and universities across the region compete by building apps to improve the lives of aging populations.

Congratulations to Dr. Coppola!

SWAG Showcase presents incredible women in technology

On Saturday, December 12, 2015, a large crowd descended on Pace University’s Pleasantville campus for Pace University’s STEM Showcase Day, an event that celebrated Pace’s Women in Technology initiative and the success of its STEM Workshop for high school female students. Appropriately called SWAG, “STEM Women Achieve Greatness,” this Workshop offered a rigorous hands-on approach to design and problem solving using engineering and programming tools to create water robots. The SWAG Workshop was an incredible opportunity made possible through the generosity of GE Capital, whom Pace is proud to have as a partner in our efforts in advancing girls and women in STEM.

Over the course of the Fall semester, 30 high school girls visited Pace on Saturdays to learn how to build and program (using Arduino) a SeaPerch Water Robot capable of taking temperature readings underwater.

Working diligently during these Saturday sessions, and under the guidance of Seidenberg School faculty and staff, the 30 young women made incredible accomplishments that could go a long way in kickstarting their education and careers in STEM.

The showcase began with an introduction by Seidenberg’s Interim Dean, Dr. Jonathan Hill, and followed by welcoming remarks by GE Capital’s CIO, Julie Stansbury. . Attending guests – including many proud parents – viewed video highlights of the journey and successes of the SWAG participants over the past semester (watch it now). Then it was onto SWAG group presentations! Each team of girls got on stage and talked about their experience building a fully functioning underwater robot, discussing their triumphs and disappointments both, and it was clear that the workshops had been a rewarding experience that incorporated new friendship connections into the STEM education. Afterwards, Pace students demonstrated the continuation of hands-on learning in a college environment through group presentations of STEM-based projects, which is part of Pace’s Capstone program.

The festivities continued with a panel discussion featuring female technology leaders and executives in the technology sector. The panel was moderated by VIP and CIO of Pace University Clare van den Blink, and was comprised of Ursuline Foley, CIO Corp. & Enterprise Enablement at XL Catlin; Margaret Honey, President & CEO of the New York Hall of Science; Nasrin Rezai, CIO at GE Capital; and Judy Spitz, CIO at Verizon. The panelists spoke of their experiences and shared profound wisdom sure to be beneficial to the talented high schoolers in the room.

To close out the celebration, Dean Hill welcomed Seidenberg School founder, Dr. Susan Merritt, to the stage. Susan presented each of the girls with a medal for successfully completing the STEM Women Achieve Greatness workshop series here at Pace University.

A big thank you to all of the Pace faculty and staff who made this event possible: Ms. Andreea Cotoranu, Dr. Pauline Mosley, Dr. Matt Ganis, visiting Instructor Ms. Dawn Tucker, Dr. Nancy Hale, Dr. David Sachs, Dr. Susan Feather-Gannon, Dr. Li-Chiou Chen, Dr. Jean Coppola, Dr. Mary Courtney, Deth Sao, Elizabeth Foster, Nancy Treuer, and Susan Downey. A Special Thanks to Mary Ann Errante from Special Events and Lenny Craig from Buildings and Grounds.

We would like to heartily congratulate each of the 30 girls and sincerely hope we see you again when it’s time for you to attend college!