Suburban students get schooled on STEM programs at Delco Community College career event

MARPLE TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Affordable educations and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) took center stage at Delaware County Community College on Wednesday, as high schoolers from Delaware and Chester counties learned about programs right at their fingertips.

Dr. Jamie Greene, director of the eastern region for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, was the keynote speaker at the STEM Career Day event at DCCC’s Marple Campus. She spoke to the young attendees about how science, technology, engineering and math fit into agriculture.

“We need biologists. We need food-processing technicians. We need food safety workers. We need agronomists,” she said. “There’s an extraordinary growth in this industry, so I’m here to talk about how STEM is in agriculture and agriculture is STEM.”

Chichester High School juniors Henalice Ortiz and Evelyn Ward were among the student attendees exploring STEM fields and getting hands-on with equipment. They also spoke with representatives from universities, including Temple, Drexel, Neumann and Penn State, and from companies including Amtrak and Lockheed Martin.

“I came here for the opportunity of looking more into the engineering program, to discover what place I’ll fit in with the STEM careers,” said Ortiz.

Ward says she was looking into studying early childhood education after high school. “It’s actually very amazing, because where I live there are not really that many options for me to figure out,” she said.

Many students at the career fair said that, in addition to showing them opportunities in STEM, the event enlightened them on affordable programs that can help them get into their chosen fields.