PARSIPPANY — Three Senior Parsippany-Troy Hills School District (PTHSD) STEM Pathways students officially presented their Community Impact Projects to earn their Distinction endorsement on March 1.
STEM Pathways is a co-curricular program at both PTHSD high schools that allows students to explore various areas of STEM. Completing this four-year program earns students a special endorsement on their high school transcript and invaluable experiences. Students earning the Distinction level of the endorsement are passionate students who push themselves above the program’s minimum requirements. For this endorsement, students must partake in more rigorous classes, obtain a higher GPA, and choose between participating in an internship or completing an impact project.
Three Pathways students pictured above from left to right are Romila Deodhar (PHS), Antara Rajgopal (PHHS), and Ananya Shrivastana (PHHS). With the guidance of our STEM Pathways advisors, Fatema Sheikh (PHHS), Megan Barry (PHS), Ellesa Jala (PHHS), and Briane DiGeronimo (PHS), these three students implemented the engineering and design process to research and design a potential solution to an identified problem within our local and/or global community.
Romila Deodhar’s project addresses water shortage due to wastage and water pollution. She created a household water filtration system prototype that could enable water reuse. By reusing household water, Romila’s prototype could reduce a household’s annual water consumption by 30%. Romila’s plans in STEM include attending a university where she will major in Biophysics and minor in Music. Romila is looking forward to the continued pursuit of her passion for protecting our environment.
Antara Rajgopal designed a website using computer programming, machine learning, and AI technology to help identify pneumonia in patient chest x-rays. Antara’s plans in STEM include attending Virginia Tech, majoring in Engineering with additional studies in Computer Science. Antara also plans to develop her website further to help identify additional illnesses, such as tuberculosis.
Ananya Shrivastana created a chatbot using computer programming. Her chatbot was designed to help people by providing an avenue to chat about their mental health with technology. Through AI, the chatbot can provide the user with mental health resources. Ananya’s plans in STEM include attending a university where she will major in Computer Science and continue to develop this project and her passion for mental health and wellness.
From research to prototyping to taking courses to learn more about their particular STEM areas of interest, our Parsippany students have worked hard and put in extensive time and energy over multiple years to accomplish their goals. Ultimately, our students could make working prototypes of each of their designs and truly embrace all components of STEM. The Parsippany-Troy Hills School District is proud of the accomplishments of our student’s impact projects and knows they have a bright future ahead. Congratulations on an outstanding accomplishment!
