St. Patrick’s Comprehensive School 2nd year students Chloe O’Loughlin and Caoimhe Ashton and Biella Pulido (1st year) have taken first place in the Junior Social Science Category at Project Squad hosted by IBM in Dublin.
The three girls worked on their project during Teen-Turn’s after school programme, creating an analysis of Autism and ADHD diagnoses.
Chloe said ‘We looked into different symptoms and stereotypes along with the cost rates for diagnosis, age of diagnosis and the difference in girls and boys with either condition.’ The girls worked with mentors in STEM industries and took part in sessions in University of Limerick as part of the Project Squad program. Caoimhe remarked that it was trips like these that ‘helped so much with research and ideas.’
Taking part in the project provided the students with a wide range of experiences, for Chloe the highlight was seeing all their work come to fruition, ‘I loved seeing all the work we put in over the 12 weeks come together and meet new people. I had a great time.’ Caoimhe was delighted with the new skills she acquired, ‘I enjoyed researching this subject and designing a website for more information.’ while Biella was very proud of all that she learned throughout the project and in getting it completed for the final.
In a surprise for all involved, one of the judges on the day was a past pupil of The Comp and was there in his capacity as Country General Manager of IBM. Nathan Cullen remarked how happy he was to see his old school involved in the final there and enjoyed meeting and chatting with the girls on the day.
It was clear from the students’ reactions that Teen-Turn had played a large part in their success and enjoyment of the 12 week programme. Chloe enjoyed ‘All the trips we got to go on and the people we got to meet. I have made many friends from working with Teen-Turn’, Biella also noted that new friendships were ‘one of the best parts of the 12 weeks’ and said that she would be ‘very interested in doing STEM in the future because I have lots more ideas.’
Teacher and Lead Mentor Donna O’Sullivan has been working with girls in the Girls in STEM Club for over 3 years now and has said that the resources provided by Teen-Turn have been very influential for the girls taking part. ‘Without the time, resources and mentorship provided by Teen-Turn, we would not have a club at all. They have been invaluable in encouraging girls to try STEM activities and the field trips to companies and universities have been a particular highlight for our girls.’
In total, 6 teams from The Comp competed at the Project Squad Final in IBM in Dublin as part of SciFest with another student Sadia Salim winning a prize for best blog as she wrote about her 12 week journey and all that she learnt/accomplished. Overall, it was a very successful 12 weeks for the Girls in STEM Club in St. Patrick’s Comprehensive School and the girls are looking forward to the next 12 week program starting soon.
Teen-Turn is an Irish non-profit organisation that provides teen girls, particularly those from underserved communities, the opportunity to gain hands-on STEM experience and the support to acquire qualifications and jobs.
More information on their activities and the supports they provide to girls is available at www.teen-turn.com.
SciFest is the largest second-level STEM fair programme in Ireland. Hosted locally in schools and regionally in third-level colleges, It is designed to be as inclusive and accessible as possible.
More information can be found at www.scifest.ie