LFCC hosts hundreds of high school students at Stem Day

Juniors learned about exciting career opportunities in STEM fields

LFCC today hosted about 200 high school juniors from around the region who learned how an LFCC education can help them land a career in the booming STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.

The students were divided into smaller groups and visited various parts of the college to learn about opportunities in a wide variety of occupations, including cyber security, surgical technology, dental hygiene and chemistry.

“We want students to be familiar with STEM jobs,” said Brenda Byard, dean of academic, student affairs and outreach at LFCC. “We also want to make sure that we get girls introduced to our what our STEM fields are and what’s available at LFCC.”

It’s estimated that there will be 8 million STEM jobs in the U.S. by 2018, but many U.S. students lack the preparation for them.

Strasburg High School student Megan Cales enjoyed learning about the surgical technology program, which she thought was “pretty cool.”

“I’m pretty interested in all of the sciences, so I think it’s pretty cool [to have the STEM event, I’m] really interested in biology and surgery,” Megan said. “[Attending] LFCC is going to be one of my options.”

Computer science professor Melissa Stange said the high schoolers were asking her plenty of questions about what pathways they need to take to get into their chosen career.
“It’s our opportunity not to sell our programs, but to sell the careers and the professions, which is the important piece,” she said. “We’re hopefully making that connection for how it all intertwines.”

For more information about STEM and other opportunities at LFCC, visit lffc.edu/whylfcc, or call 540-868-7161.

NOTE: In the first picture, Sherando High School students Dakota Citro and Meghan Rese take part in a dental hygiene session exercise. In the second picture, Strasburg High School student Amelia Guthrie attends a cyber security information session.

Media Contact:

Sally Voth
Public Relations Specialist
Office: (540) 868-7134
Cell:  (540) 247-7528
svoth@lfcc.edu