From the Computer Science team participating in competitions to Step Up submitting NASA-related proposals, Amador has a variety of STEM-focused clubs aimed to foster learning in real-life experiences. Recently, both these clubs have made exceptional contributions in the STEM field.
Outstanding performances
Formed by Computer Science teacher Mr. Kiyoi, the Computer Science team, focuses on competitive programming. Recently the team claimed the Advanced Division Title for the second consecutive year at the Lockheed Martin CodeQuest Championships.
“It’s definitely awesome. Last year’s team was actually completely different people, so it’s six different people who won [this year] and that’s really cool. It was just a really great experience in general,” said Computer Science team member Aarav Juneja (‘28).
The Amador team competed against twenty-nine different teams based in Northern California. Due to their strong teamwork they were able to finish 130 points ahead of the next team in the Advanced Division.
“All of us actually previously knew each other prior to the competition and we’re all actually good friends. The competition is very heavily based around teamwork too, so knowing each other and having good teamwork really helped us win the competition,” said Computer Science team member Kethan Vegunta (‘27).
Another club at Amador, Step Up, has also been making progress towards their official proposal to the NASA Tech Rise Student Challenge. The club members dedication is shown by their rigorous meeting schedule.
“Meetings happen Thursday mornings. We get to school at 7:30, and then we end at 8:30. We’ll come in during every Thursday access and sometimes we come in after school. We picked the suborbital spaceship project. What we’re doing is we are going to test biological sensors that are typically used on astronauts,” said Step Up member Nicole Sun (‘27).
Lasting impacts
20-25% of females earn a bachelor’s in physics and 20-21% of females earn a doctorate in physics. With these low numbers, the Step Up club is focused on bringing in more female representation in the STEM field.
“I think Step Up is important because even now STEM is really dominated by males. I mean, you can walk into an AP Physics class or any of the CS or engineering classrooms, and you are going to see a really odd male to female ratio. A lot of the girls at Amador are involved in STEM outside of school, but we want to show them that it is okay and they should join STEM inside of school. There’s a space for everybody,” said Step Up member Advika Modi (‘26).
Additionally with the growing advancements in technology, computer science is becoming an essential part of our modern world.
“I think computer science, especially in the modern world, powers more and more of our everyday technologies and inventions. Having businesses host coding competitions allows for people to get familiarized with what they do and also provides a pathway for internships,” said Vegunda.
Paying it forward
Participating in these competitions are not the only achievement these STEM clubs have made. Step up hopes to inspire young girls to find their own path regardless of gender boundaries.
“Every year we host a math competition for local middle school girls called Girls’ Athletics. This year it’s going to be at Amador. A bunch of girls come, around a hundred students, and we put together a math test with fun problems. They can earn awards and we have guest speakers. The purpose is introducing math to girls at a younger age,” said Sun.
