Ninth-grade TAF@Saghalie Student Rakes in Six STEM Awards in One Month

For the past five years, TAF@Saghalie student Ketterra Johnson has placed in first at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair, both individually and as a part of a group.

This year on March 24th, Ketterra returned on her own as a ninth-grader, racking up four awards for her STEM project “Fuel Cells: Hydrogen vs. Methanol as an Alternative Energy Source. Awards included the Fair’s first place ribbon and trophy along with the 9th-Grade Olympic College President’s STEM, 9th-Grade Norman E. Boriaug Excellence in Sustainability, and Ricoh America’s Corporation Sustainability Development specialty awards. 

Additionally, Ketterra received the 9th-Grade Top Scientific Award at TAF’s annual STEM Expo on March 17th, and on March 10th presented for the first time at the Bellevue Regional Science Fair where she received the Supernova Award.

When you provide students with opportunities to succeed, expose them to STEM, and make learning and excelling a culture, you will no doubt see more stories like Kettera.

At TAF, our 6-12th grade public neighborhood STEM school TAF@Saghalie in Federal Way, WA now impacts 700 students – all of whom we encourage to participate in STEM opportunities every year including off-site corporate visits, extended-learning, innovation challenges, internships, and more. Our hope is that we are building the capacity of each student to create the world they envision – personally, communally, nationally and globally.

We can do this, together, as long as we continue to support students and provide equitable learning opportunities for growth and success.

Seattle Foundation’s all-day online giving event Give Big is on May 9th. Schedule your gift to TAF as early as April 26th. To learn more about our programs visit our Give Big page on TAF’s website.

For more stories like this, contact Kylin Oliphant, TAF’s Marketing and Communications Manager at kylino@techaccess.org.