MILWAUKEE — From 4k to seniors about to head off to college, MPS excellence was on display at the district's STEM Fair on Thursday.
More than 600 students from across the district showed off their projects.
Liam Aponte, a sophomore at Audubon Technology and Communication High School, coded a video game by himself.
"I was so happy, it took months to figure that out," Aponte said about part of the code for the game.
He credits his computer science classes at his school for helping him get to this point. He plans to study engineering and computer science in college and already has a tech-based business idea in the works.
"I do have a plan of making like a whole pizzeria to have little animatronic robots that I make," Aponte said.
Down another row, Precious Olowu and Vera Avery teamed up to take on a real-life issue.
"So the issue that we're trying to tackle is catalytic converter theft," Olowu explained.
The 6th graders from Golda Meir Middle School created an alarm prototype that would attach to catalytic converters.
"So basically, when this is connected to the car, you have to clip these two things off to get the catalytic converter out. And basically, when this comes out, you have to pull the converter out... when this gets detached from the alarm it will pull out and make a really ear-piercing sound," Avery explained.
MPS said it's important to expose their students to STEM fields because women, Black, and Latino individuals are still underrepresented in STEM jobs. The district also said fostering an interest in STEM fields early on will help solve Wisconsin's workforce challenges.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
