Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Aaron Chand (second from right) recently earned a New Mexico Excellence in STEM Award. With him are Creighton Edington (left) of the Rural Education Advancement Program, Tim Hayward, a consultant on Tucumcari's MIT project, and Tucumcari STEM coach Tommy Evans.
Sariah Mardo shows her Aspirations in Computing medal with Creighton Edington of the Rural Education Advancement Program
Two members of the Tucumcari High School STEM team recently received awards for excellence in their field.
Aaron Chand was one of just two high-school students who earned a New Mexico Excellence in STEM Award during a ceremony last month at Q Station in Albuquerque.
Also, Sariah Mardo was a central and northern New Mexico winner for the National Center for Women & Information Technology's Aspirations in Computing Award.
The annual New Mexico Excellence in STEM Awards laud students, teaches and volunteers "doing great things in technology, engineering and math education," according to a news release.
Some category winners, including Chand, received $1,500.
Mardo was one of four student award winners for Aspirations in Computing in central and northern New Mexico.
The Aspirations in Computing Award honors students "for their computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages them to pursue their passions. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and future plans," according to the organization's website.
"They worked extremely hard for these accomplishments," said Chand and Mardo's coach, Tommy Evans.
Last month, the Tucumcari team presented its portable alert-system invention to an actual and virtual audience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Diamondback STEM team was one of only 10 teams in the United States last fall that landed a prestigious $7,500 grant and other support from the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam program to build a problem-solving invention.
