Little Einsteins flock to the White House Science Fair

http://www.savingforcollege.com/articles/little-einsteins-flock-to-the-white-house-science-fair-746

Earlier this week, President Obama hosted the 5th annual White House Science Fair, which gave over 100 students from 30 states an opportunity to showcase their talents. The entries included a variety of projects covering different areas of STEM. What’s STEM, you ask? STEM is an acronym commonly used to describe the academic fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. STEM programs are one of the main focuses of the President’s Educate to Innovate campaign, which encourages students to excel in these subjects. With a focus on diversity, this year’s fair included more female contenders, as well as students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds.

35 teams were given the opportunity to display their exhibits at the White House. Highlights included a kindergarten Daisy Girl Scout Troop from Oklahoma, known as the “Supergirls”, who designed and built a working prototype for a battery-powered page-turner that assists people who are paralyzed or have arthritis. Also notable was an invention from a student from Boston, who developed a software tool that is able to study mutations of a gene linked to breast cancer. Team “Quake Safe”, a group of sixth graders from Ohio, discovered a solution to make structurally unsound buildings in Haiti more safe using bamboo.

At the fair, President Obama announced over $240 million in new commitments to the Educate to Innovate campaign, bringing the total financial support for STEM programs to over $1 billion. Part of this funding will go toward the Let Everyone Dream coalition, which aims to involve more minorities and female students opportunities to participate in STEM projects. The intent is to expose these students to the field and encourage them to eventually pursue careers in STEM. Recent studies have shown that lower-income students often dismiss the idea of a job in IT because they fear a college degree is too out of reach.

The White House has taken steps to help make college a reality for more students, including the proposed America’s College Promise plan, that would make the first two years of community college free for all students who are “willing to work for it”. He also backed out of his notorious idea to remove the federal tax benefits of 529 college savings plans. 529 plans allow families of all income levels to save money using professionally managed investment accounts that grow tax-free when the funds are used to pay for college. 34 states, including the District of Columbia, also offer residents a state tax benefit on contributions to their plans. The President’s Student Aid Bill of Rights states that all Americans should have access to affordable high-quality education, and helps those struggling with student loan debt find a workable solution. And of course, helping young adults pay down their own student debt will allow them to begin saving for their own children’s college education.