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26 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2026 also in attendance. "They helped out tremendous- ly," Licavoli-Wall said. "Watching them show off dif- ferent mineral samples and piezoelectric devices to so many excited students was nothing short of amazing." MTU student volunteers Ben Keppers, Peter Kocour, Michael Maurer, and Rishin Patra took care of many details. "Hands-on experiences for the kids simply would not have been possible without them," said Middlebrook. To bring the ideas for Stories & Semiconductors to life, Licavoli-Wall collaborated closely with fellow MTU alumna Emily Geiger. She serves as interim superintendent for Lake Linden Hubbell Schools, and previously worked as MiSTEM Regional Net- work Director for the Western Upper Peninsula. She earned her B.S in Biochemistry and Ph.D in Molecular Biology at Michigan Tech in 2011 and 2015. "I never would have thought to target a fourth grade audience until Emily and I discussed the im- portance of trying to teach younger kids about the rather intimidating topic of electrical conductivity in materials," Licavoli-Wall said. "I love seeing students break 'molds' of what they can and cannot do," Geiger said. "Stories & Semiconductors captures the ability of young students to physically be able to practice skills that many may deem 'too old' or 'too high of a skill level' for their age group." She points out that STEM efficacy is not the lead- ing metric on whether a student decides to commit to a STEM career. "STEM interest is what guides their decision," she said. "The fourth grade is an opportune age to expose students to what could be, so that they can form interest. They cannot be interested in careers that they do not know about, or see. "My takeaway is not to limit curriculum design to what we think students are capable of, all the time. We should provide opportunities for them to chal- lenge themselves and exceed our expectations more frequently." Ashley Hendrickson attended the field trip to Michigan Tech with her son, Cruz, as a parent chaperone. "It was incredibly inspiring to see the children watch a demonstration in the lab and then put it into action. Soldering was challenging for my son's group of three, due to the precision involved. However, they all stayed determined and success- fully created their circuit boards. Their enthusiasm was contagious!" Funding for Stories & Semiconductors was provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Geiger wrote the initial grant proposal, making sure to incorporate elements of English and Language Arts into the project to en- sure teacher/classroom buy-in. She also included the Michigan Department of Education's fourth grade curriculum standards: science, math, com- puter science, and literacy. Geiger recently secured a second MEDC round of funding, one that involves fifth and sixth grade students in the Western U.P., along with Calumet Electronics and Orbion Space Technology as MEDC Talent Action Team (TAT) partners. "We plan to introduce fifth graders to computer- aided design (CAD) using Onshape, a powerful open source CAD software," she said. "The second year of the grant will focus on field trips for sixth Peter Kocour demonstrates how to use the scanning electron microscope.