On Saturday, April 9th, Exelon NAYGN, in cooperation with ComEd GrADS, hosted the 9th annual Mathletes Day at the Sci-Tech Museum in Aurora, IL. Mathletes started with one school and 30 students from East Aurora and has continued to grow over the past nine years. In 2016, the event had the highest attendance thus far, with 140 students from five Aurora middle schools who came together with 40 volunteers from NAYGN and GrADs for this event. NAYGN and GrADs put on STEM related exhibits for the middle school to get the students excited for STEM and to discuss the STEM related careers the members perform for Exelon Generation and ComEd. NAYGN had 2 nuclear related booths with one booth demonstrating nuclear half-lives and a second booth to show students natural sources of radiation.
One of NAYGN volunteers is especially passionate for the annual Mathletes event because as an 8th grader from Waldo Middle School, Jesus Guzman attended one of the very first Mathletes events that NAYGN and ComEd hosted at the Exelon’s Cantera office. His participation in this event was part of his motivation to study electrical engineering and work for Exelon after he graduated from college. This success story was shared at this year’s Mathlete event and his presence served as true inspiration for this year’s student, proving they really could grow up to be whatever they put their minds to.
You never know who you may inspire, or who you may meet but this is a perfect example of why Community Outreach is so important to Exelon NAYGN. We may not convince every young student to pursue a career in Nuclear Power or in STEM, but we have started the conversation, which will continue at home and spread the word about Nuclear Power and the importance of STEM.