Edinaman SHS wins $10,000 at STEM contest in the US
The Edinaman Senior High School at Elmina in the Central Region has won the IREX World Smart Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Competition held in Washington DC, in the United States of America.
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The school received $10,000 and a memento from the Carnegie Cooperation to help develop their prototype and make it a reality.
During the competition, Edinaman SHS, which was paired with Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Maryland, USA, were adjudged the best after they presented a project on an alternative source of energy that was reliable and easy to use.
The school was represented by Jasmine Queen Grant, Maria Bentum, Macbeth Tawiah, Theresa Amana, Isreal Amenyuie-Tamakloe, Raymond Toddy Collins, Emmanuel Enbuah and Daniel Mensah.
Briefing the staff and students of the school at a durbar after the team returned from the US, an emotional Joyce Darkowaa, the leader of the team, said: “I could not believe it when we were crowned victors among the giants.”
She said the team’s challenge was to repower the community’s energy use, pointing out that the task was timely particularly as Ghana had been saddled with energy crisis during the period.
She said each bi-national team submitted a write-up and a five-minute video of their work to IREX which was judged by experts in the STEM fields and the results were released in January.
In February this year, the school was also crowned the overall champion in a science quiz competition organised exclusively by the Women’s Commission of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) for girls among others.
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Agatha Harry, said although the school was plagued with many challenges, it was determined that those difficulties would not weigh it down.
The Board Chairman of the school, Dr Kwadwo Amissah, said the successes chalked up should propel the students to win more national awards.
IREX is an international non-profit organisation based in the USA that empowers the youth, cultivates teachers, strengthens institutions and extends access to quality education and information.