Ma’ayanot is constantly designing new ways to spark students’ interest in STEAM, increase their scientific knowledge and allow them to acquire skills and credentials in STEAM. On Friday, April 23, nine Ma’ayanot freshmen and sophomores devoted their school day to a virtual regional conference sponsored by Google, NYU Women in Computing and Princeton Graduate Women in Science and Engineering. These students participated in a coding competition, learned directly from female professors and leaders in the field, and had the opportunity to ask questions to the Google software engineers and NYU and Princeton engineering students. Freshman Talia Katz said, “This conference broadened my perspective on engineering and computer science and introduced me to various elements of these complex majors. The ideas and skills mentioned at this program gave me a strong introduction to a future in STEAM, and my passion for these subjects has only grown.”

On Friday April 26, 17 Ma’ayanot students participated in the Science Olympiad, a national organization dedicated to improving the quality of science education. In the past, Science Olympiad has been an inter-school competition among yeshivot, but this year challenges posed by the pandemic precluded it. Ma’ayanot did not want to deny its students the opportunity to keep their science minds sharp and enjoy the extracurricular science study and teamwork that the Olympiad entails, so team coach Gill Cofnas of Ma’ayanot’s science department ran the Olympiad intramurally. Teams from within Ma’ayanot, in friendly competition, faced off in nine events, including Anatomy, Astronomy, Forensics, Circuit Lab, Sounds of Music and Designer Genes, using the national Science Olympiad organization’s tests and materials. Senior Emma Nordlicht said, “I loved the excitement of collaborating with a partner to tackle challenging and thought-provoking problems!”

Thanks to the activities of the Girls Engineering Conference and honing their practice with the Science Olympiad, Ma’ayanot students remain ready to take the world of STEAM by storm!