Pulaski County students may be getting out of school at the end of May, but for many students the summer is just another chance to learn and grow. Some take advantage of athletic or 4-H camps, while others follow up additional scholastic opportunities.
Pulaski County Middle School eighth-grader Adiauna Gallimore of one of those students, and the experience she hopes to have will take her to the National Youth Leadership Forum: Explore STEM Program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Gallimore is an all A Honor Roll student with a 4.0 Grade Point Average and a member of the National Junior Honor Society. She also enjoys creating art work, some of which was recently selected for display at the Fine Arts Center of the New River Valley in downtown Pulaski. She was selected as one of two Students of the Month for PCMS in March of this year.
Already signed up for all honors classes for her freshman year, including Honors World History, Honors Geometry, and Honors English, she looked for a challenge to help keep her busy during the upcoming summer. She applied for the program with high hopes of admission, and notified in early April that she had been selected out of the hundreds of applicants from across the nation.
The program focuses on future innovators, engineers, doctors, and investigators to begin building their path to success and give them real, hands-on STEM experience in a college setting. The program is six days and each year allows students to explore career opportunities, and gain increased confidence and leadership skills.
This year, the program will focus on the mission “Explore the Red Planet” and offer the students the chance to envision their future on a mission to Mars. Students will take part in hands-on simulations, workshops, and competitions while planning and executing their mission. Adiauna is already familiar with this area of study. She is one of the 45 PCMS students who have been working on the "Plant the Moon Challenge" project with NASA, headed up by PCMS teacher Mrs. Tina Winesett. That project offers students the chance to help NASA learn how to grow crops on the moon and Mars.
STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, are featured in all phases of the program. The NYLF Explore STEM program is built on a multidisciplinary curriculum designed to help students find their passion through activities that involve forensics, robotics programing, medicine, and civil engineering.
An additional featured curriculum component is an “Outdoor Medicine Simulation: When Care is Hours Away.” Created by the late wilderness medicine expert Dr. Paul Auerbach and simulation expert Dr. Rebecca Smith-Coggins while professors in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University's School of Medicine, this realistic simulation allows students to learn and practice potentially life-saving medical techniques, including wound care, control of bleeding, and splinting. All of these skills will come into play as they plan their next hiking or camping expedition.
“My favorite subjects are science and math, because I understand them better than other subjects,” Gallimore said. “I would have signed up for an Honors Science class, but PCHS doesn’t have one for freshmen right now. I’m also interested in art, because I enjoy making things, and STEM, because in interested in science and technology. I’d eventually like to get into the field of medicine, but I also enjoy writing. I am a fan of Stanford University as a possible college choice, but my options are still open right now.”
Outside of school, Gallimore enjoys staying busy with other activities.
“My extracurricular activities right now are my volunteer work with the honor society,” she explained. “I used to play sports for the Pulaski County Recreation Department, but currently I’m more focused on my art in my free time after school.”
As with many opportunities, there is a cost involved outside of the time. The full cost of the program is $3,045 per student. Gallimore wrote an essay to be considered for a scholarship, earning a partial that was worth $500. She has gotten busy with fundraising, with the hopes of reaching her goal as quickly as possible. As of this story, she is just $1,600 short of reaching her full goal.
A gofundme page has been created by her and donations can be made at the following link: https://gofund.me/41e15476.
Adiauna will be keeping a journal of her experience and taking lot of photos to share with us when she returns. She is the daughter of Kristina and Christopher Summers and Bradley and Tiffany Gallimore, all of Pulaski.