On April 20th, 2024 the UNC BIPOC Postdoc Alliance partnered with local organizations to participate in the 3rd annual STEAM Unity Day event. Part of the Community 360 organization, this event is open to students in grades 3rd-12th. Director of UNC Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), Dr. LaKeya Hardy, PhD was the lead organizer as she is also a Co-Director of Science Outreach.
Dr. Hardy contacted UNC postdocs to lead 1-hour lessons tied to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math)- and we answered! This year there were 6 rooms: Archaeology (led by BIPOC co-chair Jasmine Edwards, PhD), Forensics (led by PDA co-chair Martha Johnson, PhD), Coding, Pharmacology (led by UNC alumni Zayna King, PhD), Poetry, and Crafts. A day full of excitement, the students participated in 3 lessons each, an icebreaker activity, a trivia game, and learned a TikTok dance!
A huge thank you to the UNC Peer Support Core for sponsoring supplies for the Archaeology lesson! Thank you to the volunteers from all over the area, committee chairs Dr. Hardy, Dr. Johnson, and Jessica Burroughs of Community 360, parents, and students for making STEAM Unity Day lit!
Until next year!!
Sponsors: Duke University School of Medicine and School of Engineering, UNC School of Medicine, UNC Peer Support Core, Society for Black Biomedical Scientists, Duke BioCore, Phorward and Black, Burroughs Wellcome Fund