mySTEM scholar Cash is an 8th grader who loves learning new things, helping his community, and exploring the wonders of numbers and math. Cash stays actively involved in his community through sports such as lacrosse and basketball, as well as volunteer work at places like the Utah Food Bank and events hosted by the Utah STEM Action Center.
One of his main goals is to work as an analyst at a large firm. He has a strong interest in business and truly enjoys learning about it. He loves how math comes together to help predict outcomes and identify trends. To him, it’s exciting how numbers can be used to understand what might happen next and to make informed decisions about the future.
Q1: Describe your motivation for joining mySTEM
I learned about MySTEM at a pop-up fair that the STEM Action Center was putting together. It was really cool to me. At that time, I wasn’t really interested in STEM, but my mom and I decided that going into high school, maybe trying new things could better me. So, I wasn’t as confident at first, but I’ve done the meetings, and as time has gone on, I’m really glad that I joined the program. In school, I like math and science, but I never really thought that I could better my community by using them.
I think it’s cool how I do a project where I can help my community and better it because it’s done so much for me. So, I think that’s really cool about this program.
Q2: Describe your Action Plan. How did you choose this particular topic in your project?
It first started when I first learned that we had to do a service project. My mom used to work at the Salt Lake City County building, and she told me of this program called New Roots and how it helps assimilate refugees and immigrants into the community by teaching them farming skills
and helping them sell their crops at the farmers market. So, I thought I could maybe help this organization even more by building them compost tumblers.
At first, I emailed the director. She said that she just wanted one for each farm, three in total. But the number increased when my dad, who does some work in Carbon County, had one of his partners tell him about the community gardens there and how they would love a compost tumbler. So, the total was added to four.
Q3: What kind of resources did you utilize to grow your project? How did those resources help?
The barrels were provided by Swire Coca-Cola, And I think it’s really cool that I’m using barrels from a really big company so I can benefit my community because usually those barrels are either just recycled or used as rain collectors in places where it’s hard to find water. So, I think it’s cool how I’m using these barrels for something new and that they can still benefit communities.
After the first meeting where I came up with my Action Plan, I went on YouTube and looked up some tutorials with instructions on how to build a tumbler. The one I settled on was an A-frame so it would be easier to put compost in and take it out. My grant application was submitted in late January, and we got the supplies in early February.
We built the frames last weekend on Saturday. Now we’re just waiting to install them. It’s been a long process, but it’s been really fulfilling to go through all the steps, build these things, and see them come to fruition.
Q4: What measurable impact have you already observed as a result of your efforts? What are your aspirations for the future of your project?
I think one of the things I’d want to start is teaching kids about composting and its benefits. And that actually happened. The Carbon County Community Gardens want me to tell some fifth graders about the benefits and how to compost, so if they go to the community gardens, they can be informed.
Something I would do to better with this project is to maybe get a friend or someone involved. I know they’re not necessarily involved in MySTEM, but maybe they could help me with building, or I could just see where their mind is at because better ideas can come from more people. So, I think just having a person who I like and can connect with could better the project.
I think the more people know about where their food comes from and how it is grown, the more I can better society. And for measurable impact, after a couple of months with the compost tumblers installed on the farms, I’d like to see if they like the design and how I built them, so I can improve them or see if they want more. So, I think that’s the impact that I see and that I can continue building.
I’d love to build more. It was really fun, my dad, one of my friends, and I built them, and it took five hours, but it was just fun talking and doing construction work together.
Q5: In what ways has your mentor contributed to the development and successful completion of your plan? What are some ways that you feel like mentors and other MySTEM scholars were able to help you succeed?
My mentor gave a talk on professional development and emailing people, so I kind of used that when I was emailing with the New Roots director to coordinate how many barrels they needed and which farms. So, I think I have learned how to email better and how to get your points across clearly and professionally.
I think I’ve definitely gotten better at networking since I started this community service project. I think I’m miles ahead of where I was in September.
Q6: Do you believe that your participation in the MySTEM program has facilitated the growth of your STEM identity?
Like I said earlier, when I first heard about it and when I first started, I wasn’t really interested in STEM. I just thought that it really wasn’t for me. But after the first few meetings, it kind of started to interest me, not all parts, but some of the parts that have to do with numbers or math.
It is also exciting to see how STEM is used in our everyday lives, how we get things and how stuff happens. I think it’s helped me a lot to become a fuller person by trying new things.
I think the worst thing that could have happened was that I didn’t like it, but the opposite happened. I’m really glad that I did it, and I’m so fortunate that I was selected.
