Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools recently held its annual district science fair, and numerous projects at the fair were created with help from the student leaders behind the youth development organization empowerminds.

empowerminds is on a mission to empower every student to make a difference in the world by teaching them essential skills and leadership qualities. That includes working with students in areas of high need by staging seminars, joining them for volunteer opportunities, and connecting them with educational resources they might otherwise do without. This year, they expanded their programming to mentoring students participating in the science fair at Walkertown Elementary School.

“There are so many students who don’t get a chance to build upon their curiosity, their talent, and their ability to succeed because they lack certain resources and supports,” said Atkins High School Junior Rachit Chandrakul, the founder of empowerminds and a long-time veteran of WS/FCS science fairs. “That’s the gap we’re trying to fill.”

Students from empowerminds collaborated with Walkertown Elementary students to not only develop their ideas for their projects, but also with advice on what makes a good scientific study, composing an informative posterboard, and practicing public speaking for their interviews at the fair. Multiple students that empowerminds mentored went on to win awards at the district level and will advance to the regional fair. The mentors enjoyed the opportunity to pay it forward and support an upcoming generation of scholars.

“If I’d had a mentor when I was their age to support me in my ideas and push me to succeed, I think I could have accomplished a lot with that support,” said Isaac Metts, a junior at Atkins High School and the associate director of empowerminds.

Chandrakul and Cardona AIG Teacher Manuelita Cardona from Walkertown Elementary says that the science fair is a great place for students to build their skills and confidence. Science projects are complex undertakings that involve a wide range of tasks and leave students with a product they can be proud of. By supporting students who have never seriously invested in the fair before, she feels empowerminds have planted a seed of curiosity that is bound to grow for years and years.

“They learn more than if they’re only in the classroom,” Cardona said. “They get to explore more, not only in the topic itself, but how to find sources, use technology, contribute to a document and share it with others… it really helps them to see situations in a broader way. It opens their minds.”

empowerminds intends to keep mentoring for the science fair in the future and hopes to expand to more schools next year. They also hope that the success of this program will inspire families and educators to keep on investing in their students’ academic ambitions.

Walkertown Team “Hopefully this can be an example for how useful support is,” said empowerminds Communications Chair Valerie Ebhodaghe, a sophomore at Reynolds High School. “Everyone has the potential to grow and to learn if they’re given a chance.”

Learn more about empowerminds online at https://www.empowerminds.org/.

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