A team of high school students from the Syracuse University Science and Technology
Entry Program (STEP) won the 2009 Science & Technology Entry Program Regional
Science Bowl, held Jan. 31 at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Team captain Nour Sahraoui (senior, Jamesville DeWitt High School) and team
members Melquea Smith (freshman, Syracuse Academy of Science High School),
Hadjer Sahraoui (freshman, Jamesville DeWitt High School), Iryonna Scruggs
(junior, Liverpool High School), Iledeja Yancy (freshman, Henninger High School)
and DeVante Watson (freshman, Nottingham High School) prepared for the event
by practicing after school twice a week for three weeks. Team coach Sarah Sahraoui,
a 2008 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduate in
biotechnology and STEP teacher, worked with team members to prepare for the
challenge.
"This was our first Science Bowl experience," says Leonese Nelson, director of SU
STEP and research assistant professor in SU's School of Education. "I just wanted our
students to have a good time and to get a feel for what the bowl was about. Their win
was simply amazing."
The SU team competed against 24 teams from across New York state, including
teams sponsored by RIT, RPI, Union College and the University at Albany. In
addition to STEP, participating programs included Upward Bound, the Program for
Rochester to Interest Students in Science and Math (PRIS2M) and the National
Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical
Engineers.
As winners of the regional Science Bowl, the SU STEP team earned an expense-paid
trip to Washington, D.C., at the end of April to represent New York state in the
National Science Bowl Finals.
SU STEP provides academic support services and enrichment activities to students in
grades 7-12. Students acquire the skills necessary for entry into pre-professional
degree programs in scientific, technical and health-related fields through hands-on
activities that have real-life implications. The STEP Saturday Learning
Academy/Enrichment Program offers advising, counseling, math and science
academic instruction, tutorials, mentoring, college preparation, professional
development and other academic services such as field trips, workshops and cultural
awareness programs. Students in SU STEP come from schools within the Syracuse
City School District and four other central New York school districts.
For more information about SU STEP, contact Leonese Nelson, SU STEP director, at
443-9171 or lenelson@syr.edu.
