Extracting DNA from a strawberry, mixing chemicals, creating a volcanic eruption, tracking turtles in Forest Park, and learning how to evaluate and care for athletes were just a few of the topics presented by female scientists during “Expanding Your Horizons,” a STEM conference for girls held March 13 at Florissant Valley Community College. The focus of the conference was to engage young women in experiences to spark an interest in STEM activities and careers—and our Seventh and Eighth Class girls were receptive to the message!

The keynote speaker highlighted the need for women in STEM fields and encouraged young women to develop 21st century skills of collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, communication and coding. She encouraged the girls to be problem solvers, to invest in themselves, to step up and get involved, to challenge themselves and to not be afraid. Hands-on workshops conducted by St. Louis area scientists followed.

Congratulations to our Seventh Class team on their second place finish in St. Dominic High School’s Academic Bowl on March 7. They were one of 12 teams competing in the Large School category; 22 teams participated in all. Well done, Seventh Class team members Brian, Ismael, Matthew, Paul, Nathan, Charlie, Matthew and Ansel!

Two Academy students received a perfect score in the second of three meets in this year’s WordMasters Challenge—a national vocabulary competition involving nearly 150,000 students annually.

Competing in the Gold Division, SIxth Class students Jaye McNeil and Christine Mwangi each earned a perfect score of 20 on the challenge—an accomplishment achieved by only 18 sixth graders in the nation! Another Academy student, Marian Cooley, also achieved an outstanding result with a score of 19. Students were coached in preparation for the WordMasters Challenge by Mrs. Laura Craig.

Congratulations to Sister Maureen Glavin on recently receiving the ST. GEORGE AWARD, presented by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting acting through the Archdiocese of St. Louis, in recognition of “significant and outstanding contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youth through scouting.” The award was presented to Sister Glavin on Sunday, Feb. 5, at St. Charles Borromeo church.

EarthWorks, the Academy’s sustainability club, is sponsoring a two-day Electronics Recycling Drive on campus Feb. 24 and 25. With just a few exceptions, all electronics can be recycled free of charge. (See list of items accepted.) We also accept Christmas lights for recycling. Our partner, Spectrum Ecycle, is giving us a price break on the recycling of tube TV’s, big screen TV’s and CRT tube computer monitors! (Tube televisions and big screen TV’s are $20; CRT tube computer monitors are $10.)

• Friday, February 24 — Bring your electronics during Student-Led Conferences (8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) and place them on/under tables in the Main Hallway (near the Shrine) and in the Arcade. Please do not bring very large items on Friday or anything for which there is a monetary charge. Save those for Saturday, when we will have workers available to help you.
• Saturday, February 25 — Bring it all! The Spectrum Ecycle trucks will be in the Academy parking lot from 9 a.m. to noon. Please encourage friends, relatives and co-workers to participate in our recycling drive!

Questions? Call or e-mail Pam Walsh at pwalsh@ash1818.org or Dave Putnam at dputnam@ash1818.org. The members of EarthWorks thank you for helping keep electronics out of our landfills!