Project STEEM alumni accepted to MIT this Fall

Cory Ward of Yantis and Scott Landers of Cooper, Project STEEM mentors at Texas A&M; University-Commerce, are headed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall.

Ward, 2009 valedictorian of Yantis High School in Wood County, and Landers, 2009 valedictorian of Chisum High School in Lamar County near Paris, have been awarded the scholarships needed to attend this elite Northeastern university.

Ward and Landers, who attended the 2007 Project STEEM camp on math, science, technology, and engineering to Northeast Texas rural middle school and high school students and teachers, became friends and will be roommates at MIT.

In addition to helping with the Infinity camp in June, which is for high achieving high school students from rural schools, the two are enrolled in an independent studies math class at A&M-Commerce; taught by department head Rick Kreminski.

Ward and Landers have both taken college courses as high school students. Landers is now a graduate of Paris Junior College.

Both students said they learned a great deal attending the Project STEEM camp. "It was really neat. It showed us stuff we hadn't seen and won't see until college," Landers commented.

Funded in 2007 by a $1.5 million grant from the Greater Texas Foundation, Project STEEM is geared to exposing students in rural Northeast Texas to technical fields and encouraging them to attend college.

"We are very proud of Cory Ward and Scott Landers for being accepted to MIT," said Project STEEM director Kerri O'Connor.

A graduate of MIT, Kreminski is also proud of Cory and Scott. "They are both good-natured, friendly, helpful, smart, talented, mature, highly motivated and very focused individuals with a great deal of determination and a good sense of humor," he said.

"I was very happy to write letters of recommendation for them for MIT, and I know that they will do well. They both seem to have a genuine hunger for math and science that runs a little deeper than in many of the other kids that I have interviewed for MIT, and I wish them the best of luck and hope that they stay in touch," Kreminski continued.

The vast majority Project STEEM students do go on and attend college, O'Connor said.

Twenty-six of those who attended Project STEEM's Infinity or X-TEEMS camps are attending college or will be this fall, she said.

Universities they have been accepted to are Austin College, Baylor, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Grayson County College, Harding University, Northeast Texas Community College, PJC, Rice University, Sam Houston State University, Southern Methodist University, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas A&M; University in College Station, A&M-Commerce;, Texas Tech, Tufts University, University of Texas at Austin, and MIT.

As of June 9, 2009, Infinity and X-TEEMS student alumni have been offered $467,160 in scholarships, O'Connor said.

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