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Imagine your child's college paid for before they finish middle school. Wright State University is offering the chance to secure one of 12 full scholarships at the Hoopla STEM Challenge on March 16, combining basketball fun with hands-on science.
A day of hoops and hands-on science could turn into a life-changing opportunity for a select group of young students ahead of March Madness at Wright State University.
Wright State, building on last year’s surprise scholarship giveaway, will host The Big Hoopla’s annual STEM Challenge on March 16, just two days before the March Madness First Four games.
Related: First Four returns to Dayton
The Hoopla STEM Challenge encourages students in kindergarten through eighth grade to explore through a basketball tournament and interactive exhibits with hands-on science, technology, engineering and math demonstrations.
It also provides an opportunity for 12 of them to win a full ride scholarship that would support four years at Wright State – an approximately $40,000 investment in their future.
Eight winners will be chosen from the basketball competition — one boy and one girl per age group, while the remaining four will be randomly drawn from students who engaged in the majority of the STEM demonstrations.
“Essentially, every student that comes [is] given almost like a bingo card of all the different setups and events that are going on,” said Daniel Palmer, director of government affairs at Wright State. “They have to visit at least 80% of those [different STEM demonstrations].”
Scholarships like these can have a transformative impact on students, providing them with the opportunity to pursue higher education without financial barriers and enabling them to achieve their academic and career goals.
Wright State serves a student population with varying financial needs. As Daniel Palmer notes, 41% of the university’s incoming cohort qualify for Pell Grants, and over 90% of those students are from the Dayton area, likely to remain in the region after graduating.
“While we’ve remained relatively affordable, the cost of education has just progressively gotten more and more expensive. For that financial burden to be taken off of those kids and those families, it’s moving,” Palmer said. “Not only are we accessible for those students, but they’re going to gain meaningful employment on the back end and contribute to our local economy.”
Wright State supports the STEM Challenge as a way to introduce students to STEM skills and fields at a young age, with the hope of sparking their interest and encouraging them to pursue a university education in related fields. This aligns with the university’s focus on STEM programming and its connections to workforce development at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and other nearby employers.
The announcement of the scholarships last year came as a surprise to many students and families, who were not aware of the opportunity to win.
“We had a single mother come up to us at the game in tears and just said that she didn’t know if college was in reach for her child, just because of the cost of it,” Palmer said. “She didn’t know how she’s going to pay for it. Now that Wright State University was able to give her child that scholarship, the future of her family was altered for the better, for the rest of their lives.”
To prepare for the estimated 1,000 visitors, Wright State worked with a team consisting of those from the university student union, events coordinators and the Hoopla committee. Strategic planning of room layouts ensures efficient egress and traffic flow, and the university has selected a portion of campus with ample parking for the event.
With STEM skills being a significant driver of Dayton’s workforce, these events play a vital role in encouraging and building those skills in the local community, contributing to economic growth and development through a long-term investment in the region’s younger population.
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