Duval County

Girls excited about STEM careers thanks to River City Science Academy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In just two days, thousands of local students will show off their science, technology, engineering and math skills at the Florida STEM and Health Expo.

This Saturday, the 8th-annual Florida STEM & Health Expo will take place at the River City Science Academy’s Beach Blvd. campus.“This right here is a pendulum it’s a physics concept we learned it produces wavelike effects,” student Krina Patel said.

Science is the 12th-grader’s passion.“I’m definitely going to college and pursuing a STEM major so my focus will be in biology and chemistry,” Patel said.

This year, she’s one of 11 girls and just four boys who compete on the Science Olympiad team.

It’s that kind of girl power outreach assistant Alex Dreyer likes to see.“A ton of people that try out and the girls kind of took over this year,” said Dreyer.

Getting more girls interested in STEM fields took center stage at the Super Bowl thanks to an ad from Olay.

Student Gwyneth Lin was watching.“I was really empowered,” Lin said.

Lin will help host this year’s expo.“This year there’s a bunch of pendulums going on, there’s a sand robot and especially there’s going to be a big explosion,” she said.

Lin and Patel hope more girls will see, they too can study STEM and not feel like it’s out of their reach.

Saturday’s Expo is free to the public.