Pictured are two Emerson staff members volunteering in STEM classrooms in Marshalltown Schools as part of the Emerson Women in STEM group. At left is Maria Alfaro-Garcia at Woodbury Elementary School and at right is Cherra Meloy at Fisher Elementary School assisting student Olivia Wise, right.
The Emerson Women in STEM group has partnered with Marshalltown Schools to provide classroom volunteers for the third grade STEM special classes. A total of 17 Emerson employees visit the elementary classrooms throughout the district once a month.
“We wanted to give the kids contact with someone who works in the STEM fields,” said Sara Duncan of Emerson who leads this group. “It is an opportunity for us to interact with kids of all different backgrounds and abilities. It is also a chance for us to give back to our community.”
Cherra Meloy is an engineer at Emerson, a global leader in valve manufacturing. She volunteers at Fisher Elementary School.
“We use these kinds of concepts every day to design valves,” Meloy said of how her work skills translate to the classroom STEM projects.
Maria Alfaro-Garcia works as a systems administrator at Emerson and volunteers at Woodbury Elementary School.
“This was a good way to serve my community,” Alfaro-Garcia said. “I really wanted to be involved in volunteering and helping out the community,”
