Largest Class of STEM Career Exploration High School Fellows Selected

Seven Montgomery County, MD, High Schools Are Represented in Program’s Fourth Year

The fourth class of high school students to participate in a Washington, D.C., area fellowship program that enables them to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has been announced by the Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation. 

The 34 new fellows – constituting the largest class to date – are from seven high schools in Montgomery County, MD, including four schools new to the program. That also is the largest number of schools represented in the program since it launched in 2020. The new fellows join 49 students from three previous fellowship classes.  Sophomores make up 22 of the fellows, along with 11 juniors and one freshman. Fellows will meet with STEM professionals over the next three semesters to gain insights and exposure to fields they might not otherwise consider.

The fourth class of fellows and their schools are:

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (Rockville)
Isaac Yourman

Churchill High School (Potomac)
Kevin Xue

Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring)
Tejusvi Vijay

Northwest High School (Germantown
Diya Arunkumar

Poolesville High School (Poolesville)
Anushka Cheedarala, Yash Sandeep Pandit, Aileen Sharma

Richard Montgomery High School (Rockville)
Elani Bui, Daniel Chernyak, Catherine Chong, Adam Dubleman, Mael Ejiogu, Stacy Guech, Annie Guo, Sujit Hegde, Nethaka Jayatilake, Shriyans Kalbhor, Sushma Katta, Yayoi King, Fadekemi Laniyonu, Aaron Logsdon, Josiah Main, Gabby Mendelsohn, Alex Nguyen, Zoe M. Pascover, Ariana Patel, Kevin Si, Joseph Simak, Ashna Uprety, Ilana Vainstein, Alanna Yang, Amy Ye, Michelle Yu

Walt Whitman High School (Bethesda)
My Linh Bui 

The Fellows are promising high school students who enjoy science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and are curious to learn more about exciting potential careers in these areas. They range from those who already aim to pursue a STEM career but have not yet identified a specialty to other students who are only beginning to consider the possibility of STEM-based higher education and careers.

Fellows meet with STEM leaders, visit leading STEM institutions in the DC area, and access peers and mentors to support career exploration in STEM. Even though most events to date have been held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the small group online sessions are interactive and include a diverse group of speakers from around the country.

For three semesters the Fellows take part in events that offer close-up views of careers in which STEM education is a solid foundation – from laboratory researchers and those in “traditional” science and engineering careers to others who use their STEM backgrounds in business and finance, communications, and arts and entertainment, and more.

Fellows have visited laboratories at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as well as the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. They have spoken with:

  • White House and federal agency climate and weather researchers and communicators,

  • an astronaut/engineer/lawyer who recently travelled to space,

  • math and science teachers,

  • a structural engineer who investigates building disasters,

  • a software engineer,

  • an intellectual property attorney,

  • a cybersecurity expert,

  • a chemistry executive and science communicator,

  • a computer scientist who is vice president of a digital advertising company,

  • a chemist/bioscientist who manages a program which made major contributions to the science behind COVID-19 vaccines,

  • doctors practicing obstetrics and gynecology and pediatric emergency medicine,

  • an economist who manages all social science programs at the National Science Foundation, and

  • an engineer working in a senior marketing position with a medical equipment manufacturer, and another engineer who is the chief technology officer of a major digital media company.

The non-profit Foundation conducts its work in memory and honor of Sandra Lee Heyman, who taught mathematics at the community college, high school, and middle school level in Montgomery County (MD), Fairfax County (VA), and New Providence (NJ). She passed away in 1998 due to an autoimmune blood disease. The Foundation was formed by Sandra’s family to honor her memory and extend her legacy. In addition to the fellowships, the Foundation sponsors scholarships for students excelling in mathematics.

Volunteers interested in being considered as a guest speaker, host for a field trip, or mentor can find more information here: https://www.theslhfoundation.org/volunteer

The Foundation welcomes donations to support student Fellows.

For more information, visit www.theslhfoundation.org or email Foundation Board Chairman Mat Heyman: mat@theslhfoundation.org

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