Woodrow Wilson Fellows + Upward Bound Students = Career Success!

In July, the third cohort of UA Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows engaged high-school Upward Bound (UB) Classic students with interesting and unique STEM career-based topics. Microbiology, forestry, IT, nutrition, and forensics/fingerprinting were all discussed during an afternoon session with the Fellows.

The Fellows, who began their intensive one-year teacher preparation program in May, were asked to help the UB students understand STEM careers.  The Fellows decided to put together a Career Fair for the students and created a scavenger hunt that the students needed to complete while traveling around the various career stations.  During the quick hit presentations, the UB students were given great information on careers that they may have never considered. It was truly an enriching experience for both the UB students and the Fellows

"This is the third year that the Woodrow Wilson Fellows have planned and shared a STEM Career Fair for the UA Upward Bound students.  It's such a great event - it's the perfect way for STEM majors who plan to work in high schools to begin to share their knowledge and interests," says Lynne M. Pachnowski, UA Woodrow Wilson project director.

UB is a federally funded TRiO program which prepares 9th - 12th grade students in targeted Akron Public Schools for postsecondary education. UB students are chosen based on requirements including the desire and motivation to succeed academically and to attend college.

All UB students and Fellows were highly engaged for the afternoon and came away armed with great information on STEM careers.