This summer, 43 high school students wrapped up the Honeywell STEM Academy’s STEM Prep Program at Central Piedmont — a hands-on, college-readiness experience focused on science, technology, engineering, and math.

🧠 Why it matters:
This non-curriculum program gave 10th, 11th, and 12th graders a head start on college-level STEM courses — combining math with a second class based on their personal interests.

💡 Program highlights:

• Every student took a math course + one STEM course of their choice
• Many of the 12th graders plan to enroll full time at Central Piedmont, while 10th and 11th graders will join as dual enrollment students

🎓 A big thank-you to our faculty & mentors:

• Instructors: Dr. Carl Arrington, Samantha Carter, Tony Stanford, Quillie Hunt, and Lauren Burgess
• Student Peer Mentors: Nicholas Wind McJetters, Justin Perez, Robert Winecoff, Amariah Robinson, and Mariam Idris

🙌 Special shoutout to program leader Mrs. Amber Griffin and coordinator Shenequa Hayes, whose leadership made it all happen!

🔬 Research spotlight:

Two Honeywell STEM Academy Scholars were selected for the UNC Charlotte Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), hosted by the College of Computing and Informatics:

• Yao Djaka: Analyzing Student Perceptions of Feedback in Monitoring Academic Progress
• Kebron Mamo: Hydroponic System for Real-Time Monitoring and Early Disease Detection

📅 Both students presented standout research posters on Fri., Jul. 25 — way to go! 👏