The Center summer interns and graduate researchers hosted a workshop for rising 8th and 9th grade Eureka! scholars. The Eureka! program at UMass is a partnership between UMass Amherst and Girls Inc. of the Valley. The program works to address the gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The interns, assisted by graduate researchers Gina Georgadarellis, MS and Seonhun [Hoon] Lee, MS, worked with Eureka! scholars over two days conducting workshops that introduced nursing and engineering concepts to spark their interest through hands-on learning.
For nursing, the Core interns taught scholars about vital signs and the cardiovascular system. The scholars learned about respiratory rates, active and resting heart rates, and manual and automatic blood pressures, and taking temperatures. Core Interns Ben Shih ‘25 and Asmita Deb ’25 demonstrated the functions of mannequins in the simulation lab and how student nurses use the mannequins in preparation for in-person interactions with patients. To interact and teach younger students about nurse education and the roles nurses have in healthcare was a impactful experience for the interns. Core Intern Jenny Le ’25 said, “Working with the Eureka! students honed my ability to explain nursing-specific knowledge in simple terminology, a crucial skill for effective communication with patients.”
The group also focused on engineering areas of robotics and programming, helping the scholars broaden their experience with science through hands-on fun.
Working in groups, Center interns instructed the Eureka! scholars on how to create Bristle Bot robots using toothbrush heads, circuits, and pipe cleaners. The Eureka! scholars participated in a robot simulation and learned about engineering and how by modifying the pipe cleaners and eyes, the robots moved in different ways. Graduate student researcher Hoon Lee remarked, “Their simple curiosity seemed to ignite more curiosity. What would happen if there were more motors? More batteries? What configurations would best predict the path the bristle bot would take? As I observed their actions, reaching and searching for spare parts, hot-gluing one to the other and testing out different scenarios, I felt that this workshop could be creating an appreciation for robotics and a possible career path for them.”