Following their victory at the Medical Marvels Competition, several science research and technology students attended the Long Island STEM Hub Starts of Stem Convention at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. The event took place on April 9, and gave the students a new opportunity apart from the traditional Science Research competitions. It was the first time Schreiber Science Research attended this competition and by extension, their first time attending the STEM Convention.
“Our success at Medical Marvels gave us the opportunity to come in contact with researchers dealing with some of the topics that are addressed in the course at Schreiber,” said sophomore science research teacher Mr. John Schineller.
The Medical Marvels competition is a program sponsored by the Feinstein Institute of North Shore LIJ. The goal of the program is to boost freshmen and sophomores’ interest in the field of science and had great success last year in its first year of running. The Feinstein Institute is the biomedical research facility branch of North Shore LIJ hospital and this specific program is one of many of Feinstein’s attempts to encourage career pathways in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
“It was a unique experience to come in contact with researchers dealing with fields similar to what we study in class,” said sophomore and science research student Andrew Gruber.
Medical Marvels, the precursor to STEM, was a group event in which students prepared an emergency plan for a plausible natural disaster. It gave students an opportunity to depart from their individual or partnered work on their specific fields of research and collaborate together. Schreiber sent two teams of six to Medical Marvels; both qualified for the STEM Convention. One team, which won the Presentation Award, included sophomores Madeline Fagen, Andrew Gruber, Zareen Johnson, Maxwell Rutman, Prithvraj Talukdar, and Isabelle Wilson. The second team consisting of sophomores William Barnes, Emma Feldman, Zachary Hage, Annie Kline, Dylan Lee, and Joseph Pizzuti received first place for their paper.
“The group dynamic was a great change of pace and allowed for us all to get our ideas out,” said Dylan Lee.
Natural disasters were this year’s topic because of their timely nature. Increased natural disasters have occurred in the past few years such as the tornadoes in Oklahoma last year and Hurricane Sandy which affected Long Island in 2012. Catastrophic events such as hurricanes, landslides and tsunamis were assigned to the teams, and they had to plan a comprehensive emergency procedure. Evacuations routes, shelter, medical assistance, and provisions were all considered when designing the plan. Schreiber’s sophomores broke up the plan into segments and worked separately on their respective section and then came together to reach group decisions. This system allowed for everyone in the group to contribute their thoughts and ideas directly into the plan.
Principal Mr. Ira Pernick honored the sophomores in science research for their accomplishments at Medical Marvels. It was the first time the class had entered a competition of this sort, and their success was much appreciated in terms of publicizing Schreiber’s science field. Not only did it provide publicity, the victory awarded the winning team with $500 and the first place team with $1,800. The money will be sent to the school and distributed to the students.