Hi! I’m Jessica Simonian, and I’m running to be the Outreach Director for the LCEC. I lived in Saudi Arabia for nine years and grew up with absolutely no STEAM opportunities or activities, so I know what it’s like to grow up wanting to learn about STEAM but have no possible way to do so, and it shouldn’t be that way. That’s why my main goal as outreach director would be to increase the accessibility of STEAM by reaching beyond our community into underprivileged and underrepresented communities.

After talking to several impressive and inspiring teams at the World Championships, I have some ideas on how we can expand our outreach and increase our impact next year: ● We could work with the RESC (Refugee Education Support Club) and Omid for Girls to create a STEAM curriculum and teach it for their tutoring programs that support refugees in LA and girls from Afghanistan.
● We could develop different kinds of STEAM kits, which are packages with all the materials and instructions needed to make a mini robot. We could make kits with materials and fun experiments to make STEAM education more accessible. In this way, we can also make a global impact by sending these kits to schools, shelters, or hospitals anywhere in the world!
● Work with hospitals, such as the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, to introduce students to FIRST and STEAM by demonstrating FLL robots and teaching them how to code the FLL robots
● Host a special STEAM fair (similar to the one we already host) that is sensory-friendly to make learning about STEAM accessible to students and people with special needs.

I’ve been on the outreach/impact team for the past two years and have learned several valuable skills regarding how impact and outreach works. I was an impact presenter at every competition last year and was a pit presenter this year. In addition, I’ve been the vice-president and treasurer of the Girls Who Code club, where I helped organize and run a two week Innovation Camp for elementary and middle school girls to learn about the fundamentals of STEAM, so I also have some experience with organizing outreach events that I hope to expand in this role.

Every child deserves a chance to learn about STEAM. I want to help make that happen.