By Raphaella Sarangaya

STEM Connect, a two-week bonding session project intending to foster an environment of camaraderie and togetherness between Grades 11 and 12 STEM students in the Ateneo Senior High School, came to an end last December 1, Wednesday.

STEM Connect aimed to aid both STEM juniors and seniors in strengthening their relationships, building lasting friendships, and looking for an opportunity to temporarily escape from their mental or emotional afflictions through various synchronous and asynchronous activities executed by each group in breakout rooms. 

The synchronous activities from days one to three include Name It to Win It, Campfire, and Magazine Cover Activity. On the other hand, the non-mandatory asynchronous activities, which can be executed by the groups anytime from November 27 to 30, include the various BINGO tasks. 

In an interview with STEM Vice-Chairperson Jacques Zacharie Thaddeus Ponce, he stated that the barriers of online learning have immensely affected the ability of STEM students to cultivate a strong relationship with each other. 

“This online setup has taken a toll on both us, individually, and our opportunities as STEM students to socialize. So, we created STEM connect in hopes of breaking some barriers that the STEM strand faces and providing opportunities to work towards a more united STEM strand,” Ponce stated. 

He also mentioned that beyond meeting and connecting with new people, STEM Connect is a project that intends to remind all STEM students that the strand will always be a safe space for them— a home where they can feel loved and supported.

However, the STEM Council has also gone through various challenges during the planning process of this event. The project proponents had to carefully reconsider the number of people who signed up for the event, time schedule of synchronous sessions, groupings of participants, and activities for the event. 

“At first, we only expected around 100 people to sign up for STEM Connect and we were a bit surprised that the total number of participants exceeded 200 people. Due to this, we had to modify the time schedule of the event, the groupings, and the activities that the Council had initially prepared,” Ponce said.

Despite several reconsideration and modification of plans, the STEM Council successfully maximized their three-week preparation for this junior-senior interaction and ironed out every single detail of the project. 

“The entire planning and execution process of STEM Connect was really taxing on us because it is the first project of STEM this school year and we were still discovering our dynamics as a council. In the end, however, we were able to put out a successful project for all. We’re looking forward to creating more opportunities for the STEM strand, which we hope the STEM students can also look forward to in the succeeding semester,” Ponce added. 

Photo Courtesy of Kaila Clarich