This school year, a new club joins North’s diverse club roster. Juniors Allie Bardouniotis and Alanna Gupta, with AP Physics teacher Sarah Mattioli, began the club Encouraging Women in STEM.
The idea behind the pilot club began when they noticed a difference in gender ratios in their STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics) classes and felt that gender stereotypes posed some barriers. They wanted to build a community where women could feel they could pursue their passions without being judged and be surrounded by women who shared their passion. They also felt that North needed some more STEM extracurriculars.
“It’s just kinda nice to have a group where everyone could come together and talk about what they are inspired by,” said Gupta.
Mattioli became the supporting adviser for this club initially because Bardouniotis and Gupta were her students. She was delighted when she was asked to be the advisor for the club because promoting girls in STEM fields was her passion, being a STEM teacher herself.
“I was thrilled to be the club adviser for this because promoting girls in STEM fields is one of my goals as a teacher and one of my passions. So it was a perfect fit,” said Mattioli.
The club focuses on doing science experiments to learn about STEM fields at each meeting, while also looking into aspects of careers in STEM fields. They also have themed months, with chemistry being their focus now and an eventual shift into aerospace.
In the future, they plan to do some STEM events and have people come in to speak about STEM careers.
“We also hope to go to elementary or middle schools at some point, and do fun science experiments with them,” said Mattioli.
However, this club was not so quick and easy to create. They faced several denials due to a non-exclusionary policy, which says that clubs cannot be based on gender or any minority.
“We were a little confused because North already has a bunch of clubs that are minority based. So we really wanted to push for this club because we thought it was really important,” said Bardouniotis.
Bardouniotis and Gupta really wanted the club, so they pushed for it, met with people and presented why their idea for this club should be passed. They made a slideshow with a lot of statistics showing a lot of middle schools, high schools and colleges in the area that have female or minority-based clubs.
“We had a slide with statistics of how women in STEM are a minority, so it’s not really discriminatory if you’re promoting the minority,” said Bardouniotis.
Ultimately, the club did get approved.
“Once it finally got passed, it was pretty easy to plan,” said Bardouniotis. “We work pretty well together.”
Students who think this club would be a good fit for them can join them at their next meeting at 6:40 a.m. in room 115. For more information, they can also join the Schoology using the code, ZRT5-NZJG-QDW62.
