Breck students great at STEM communication

Fifteen students from Breck School in Golden Valley won 2017 High School STEM Communicator Awards in an annual competition that focuses on written communication skills among young scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians.

The Top 10 awards — several of them given to two-person teams — were chosen by Minnesota scientists and educators of appropriate expertise, in a manner consistent with the other competitions MAS coordinates throughout the year. The top ten papers are recognized with a cash award and medallion, and are invited for publication in the Minnesota Academy of Science Journal of Student Research.

All but two of the 2017 winners were students from Breck, which has traditionally had a very strong STEM curriculum, such as Cole M. and Maggie S., who researched “Cancer and Tick-Borne Bacteria: Identification of Bartonella and Borrelia as Possible Promoters of Melanoma Metastasis.”

Another winner is Archana M. (pictured above) for her patent-pending research, "Window to the brain: Using retinal biomarkers to predict progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease." She recently won a $1K first-place prize in a Special Award given by the Patent and Trademark Office Society at the International Science & Engineering Fair in Los Angeles for her work.

Minnesota Academy of Science (MAS) began the award program in 2013, with generous funding from St. Jude Medical Foundation, to identify and encourage high school students who show exceptional STEM potential in performing scientific and mathematical research, in communicating their research through writing, and in understanding the societal context of their research and results.

Visit MNMAS.org for all award winners, and details of all STEM programs held throughout the year.