STEAM CHALLENGE 2019-2020
Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Mr Angus Campbell, presented prizes to the winners of SI Bournemouth’s STEAM Challenge for Girls in Years 8 and 9 issued to girls in local schools. He praised the girls saying they were ‘all winners…. you’ve shown huge imagination which was used by all teams…….. showed thinking outside the box and that this astounding project is a really good start for your future work in STEAM subjects’
WINNING TEAMS –
Year 8
Winners……………’Ed2U’ from Bournemouth School for Girls
Runners up……….’Tempus’ from Talbot Heath School
Year 9
Winners………….. ‘Toxicus’ from Bournemouth School for Girls
Runners up……….’Project Access’ from Ballard School
Following the success of their first STEM Challenge (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), launched as part of their Club’s 75th Anniversary celebrations in 2013, for the eighth year running Soroptimist International (SI) of Bournemouth issued the Challenge as they remain concerned that only one in five girls opts to study subjects from the whole range of science subjects. Its purpose is to promote participation and raise aspirations in industries that young women often see as masculine and not for them.
The Challenge for girls in Years 8 and 9 is to design, build and cost a project to help people in the poorest parts of our world. It had to be sustainable, fit for purpose and cost effective in a world where 884 million people lack access to clean water, 840,000 people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene related causes and every 20 seconds a child dies from a water related illness. An estimated 850,000 people are hungry while the world produces enough food to feed everyone.
The Challenge is in line with Soroptimist values, in particular human rights for all and projects cover many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The projects focused on areas such as the provision of clean water, shelter, improved sanitation, safer food and improved health, solar power and recycling.
We are extremely grateful to our sponsors for their support in providing CREST Awards from the British Science Association, prizes and much more: – Bournemouth University, Morgan Sindall Construction and Infrastructure, Ellis Jones Solicitors, Bournemouth Water and Soroptimist members and friends.
Judges were drawn from local companies and organizations and gave comprehensive feedback to the girls on their work.
Ann Garvie, President of Soroptimist International 2013-15 and working in the construction industry, praised the girls for their projects which are ‘a credit to you all. You should be proud of the co-operation and teamwork. Be brave and chase your dreams and remember that Einstein said –“Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere.”’
In her concluding speech Soroptimist International President of Bournemouth, Julie Lankshear, thanked everyone and announced that the Challenge will continue in 2021-2022 reminding the audience that our lives depend so much on Science and STEAM subjects generally given the experiences of the last year. Julie’s passion for the girls is for them to continue their passion for STEAM subjects.
Below is a screenshot of the ZOOM event ……………….
