NE STEM Spotlight: Maggie Kehler
NE STEM Spotlight: Maggie Kehler
Summer 2021 proved to be a productive and successful time for the NE STEM 4U program, as 10 schools received quality, hands-on programming in STEM from undergraduate students from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Despite the Pandemic and the fact that afterschool programming was remote during the entirety of the 2020-2021 year, the program was able to return to in-person for the summer, a welcomed change to stoke the fires of curiosity for youth across Omaha.
Maggie Kehler, an undergraduate officer for the NE STEM 4U program, was a driving force behind this success. Maggie’s role for the program was not only to serve as a mentor, but in the logistics of prepping/preparing supplies for the sites this summer. Her leadership made for a fluid process that allowed for both undergraduate mentors and the youth to have positive experiences.
“She was always in the NE STEM room, always organizing. When mentors came to pick up supplies, she was there to make sure they had everything they needed and to check in with them” says Nik Stevenson, the NE STEM 4U Program Coordinator.
When asked what attributed to her abilities to make NE STEM 4U a well-oiled machine during the summer, Maggie stated “Noyce helped organize me. The professional development I have received has helped me be more organized. It has also helped having Dr. C. [Cutucache] as a mentor, as she is a huge role model for me.”
Currently entering her 4th year in the NE STEM 4U program, Maggie has found great joy in her NE STEM interactions. Her most memorable interactions with the youth included the feelings of making a difference, as she highlighted one student told her how much she loved having her [Maggie] as a mentor and that she loved the program. Maggie currently is dual-majoring in Biology and Secondary Education. A member of the NoyceSCIENCE program (NSF #1659058), she is excited to become a secondary education teacher.
“Someone told me once that if you have a backup plan in the first place, that’s what you wanted to do.” For Maggie, Pre-Med was her initial ambition, but that statement resonated so much so with her that she found teaching as a calling she had to answer.
"NE STEM has taught me that every person is going to make an impact some way, somehow. No matter how small that impact may seem, it can actually be rather big," Maggie said.
Outside of her successes at UNO, Maggie loves to be outside to take walks and tend to her garden that includes pumpkins. Baking is one of her favorite things to do, with cinnamon rolls being one of her specialties. Just ask the mentors, there’s occasionally tasty goodies in the NE STEM room ready to be eaten!
Growth. Gratitude. Grateful—these are all words that came to Maggie’s mind when asked to describe what the program meant to her. Maggie stated that NE STEM exposed her to cultures much different than her small town.
Maggie is gearing up for her student teaching experience this year and will be graduating in the Spring of 2022, where she will then be looking for teaching opportunities. Maggie’s leadership has been a pillar in the success of the NE STEM 4U program. When reflecting back on the call to apply to be an officer for the program, Maggie smiled and said, “I would do it again in a heartbeat. It has been a lot of work, but it has been so rewarding.”