I represent a national student-led organization at Ann Sobrato High School called Girl STEMpowerment. The mission of our organization is to ignite passion and interest in all STEM components for young girls.
During the weekend of Nov. 9, Girl STEMpowerment held a truly special free event at the Morgan Hill Library for Morgan Hill’s youth, our third annual All Girls Math Tournament (AGMT). This event was entirely organized by nine local high school students, who spent months fundraising, writing math problems, coordinating logistics and creating an encouraging environment for younger girls.
Across its three years, the tournament has provided more than $1,500 in prizes and resources to participants.
The event filled every spot available and brought together 33 fourth to sixth graders from across 17 local schools to take on a series of math challenges, designed not only to inspire confidence in STEM but also to give younger students opportunities to experience competition math in an accessible and supportive setting. Participants tackled logic puzzles, algebra challenges and real world math scenarios.
More than just a competition, the AGMT created a space where young girls see themselves as confident problem solvers and future innovators.
We were also honored to welcome UC Berkeley biomedical student and Ann Sobrato High School Alumni, Faith Fernandes, as our guest speaker. She shared her journey in STEM and high school, and offered empowering advice on perseverance and self-belief for the young students.
We recognized our top teams and individual scorers, distributing $300 worth of awards to celebrate their achievements and encourage their continued passion for STEM.
In the team round, Team Doctor (Ahana Balamurali, Emerson Billington, Lailee Shirani and Mia Bregar-Ladic) took third place; Team Biologists (Alexis Ngui, Alice Nguyen, Frida Martinez and Kushi Dasari) took second place; and Team Mathematicians (Alyssa Zagazeta, Jamila Attia, Rhea Narang and Yuna Kim) received the first place title.
Our individual winners were Frida Martinez from Charter School of Morgan Hill (third place), Alexis Ngui from Jackson Academy of Math and Music (second place), and Yuna Kim from Frost Elementary (first place), who received cash prizes of $50, $100 and $150, respectively.
Isabella Larsen
Secretary of Girl STEMpowerment
