UC Merced shares STEM fun with Sheehy Elementary students

Science and engineering students from UC Merced planted seeds of inspiration in the minds of elementary students Friday by giving them a chance to try out several flying aircraft and learn to aim high when it comes to their education.

Chancellor Dorothy Leland accompanied the four students to Sheehy Elementary School to promote STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) as part of National Engineers Week.

Finding a spot on the grassy field, Leland sat with about 20 students from teacher Eleazar Flores’ third-grade class who listened to the university students describe aircraft such as airplanes and drone quadcopters.

The children then broke into small groups and were given a quick orientation on how to control the small aircraft. Within minutes, the quadcopters were hovering in the air, provoking squeals of excitement as the young students chased after the flying machines.

It was all part of the UC Merced students’ goal to spread their passion for science and engineering.

“Ambition means having determination, the willingness to work hard, and having a dream for all that to become a reality,” said Moataz Dahabra, a UC Merced sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering.

For one UC Merced student, senior physics major Julian Cuevas, the visit to Sheehy was a return home.

About a dozen years ago, Cuevas was a student in Flores’ fourth-grade class, during the teacher’s first year at Sheehy.

“He was always reading and in the library,” Flores recalled of Cuevas. “He’d always volunteer with answers, and his parents were active in his education, too.”

Cuevas is a role model for other students, Flores said. “He’s giving back to his community. I admire that from someone.”

Cuevas said it was important to share with the younger students his excitement about STEM fields.

“I didn’t have much of a background in engineering and the STEM field at this age,” he said. “These kids are the future generation. It’s sort of like handing the gauntlet down to them.”

After the flight demonstrations, the third-graders were guided in building paper rockets, which they launched using straws.

The experience seemed to pay off in the excitement of at least one student. Stephanie Nino-Barajas said she plans to practice flying her helicopter at home after Friday’s lesson. Stephanie said she’s never met any students from the university before, and she had fun interacting with them. “It was really fun,” she said. “Flying was the hardest part.”

Diane Shaw, the learning director at Sheehy, said the school takes every opportunity to interact with UC Merced. While the demonstrations were happening, a fourth-grade class from the school was on a field trip to visit UC Merced.

“We want to continue to build and maintain that partnership so the students know we have a great university here,” Shaw said.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 6:47 PM with the headline "UC Merced shares STEM fun with Sheehy Elementary students."