Bronxville Middle School Students Shine at West Point STEM Workshop

Four bright Bronxville Middle School students were invited to a highly selective, weeklong, hands-on STEM workshop at the United States Military Academy at West Point. They participated in a variety of inquiry-based projects to further reinforce their science, math and problem-solving skills.

Sixth graders Lucas Gonzalez-Asturias and Ariel Agrawal participated in the workshop from June 3-7 and eighth graders Hunter and Zeke Malpass participated in the workshop from June 10-14. The program, which is organized and funded by the Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM, covers the tuition costs for all talented students who are selected to participate in the workshop. They engaged in STEM activities taught by Academy faculty and cadet mentors.

Science teacher Jean Windels, who encouraged the students to apply for the program, said the students embarked on scavenger hunts across the West Point campus, delved into classes in civil engineering, psychology and negotiation, and electronics, constructed a hoverboard and interacted with a robot dog. Windels, who leads the Bronxville Middle School Science Olympiad team, remarked on the students’ enthusiasm and growth and commitment to excel and lead in STEM fields.

“It was obvious that they really enjoyed the experience and came home excited about everything that they learned,” Windels said.