May 2026
Lincoln-West Symposium
2026 Young Scientist Symposiums
This month, we celebrated two incredible Young Scientist Symposiums at Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation and Lincoln-West School of Science and Health!
We were blown away by the confidence, professionalism, and passion our young scientists brought to their presentations. These students were truly the experts in the room, leading every step of the process from initial idea generation and grant writing in the fall, through four months of experimentation and data collection, to presenting their findings at the symposiums in May.
Each student presented their work with confidence and poise, demonstrating not only a deep understanding of their research, but also tremendous growth as communicators, problem-solvers, and scientists. It was awesome to watch them describe their methods, discuss their data, and share the stories behind their projects with educators, families, community members, and supporters. Following the presentations, we ended each event with plenty of junk food and time to celebrate all of the hard work that brought these projects to life!
A huge thank you to all of the educators, school leadership teams, parents, community members, and volunteers who came out to support the students. Your encouragement and commitment help make these experiences possible and remind our young scientists that their ideas, voices, and discoveries matter.
While the symposiums marked a major milestone, the students’ work is not finished yet. Students are now preparing manuscripts for the 2026 edition of the Journal of Young Scientists, where they will formally share their research and findings in a published scientific journal. We could not be more proud of these students and all they accomplished this year.
This summer you can read all about their journey in the Journal of Young Scientists!
Garrett Morgan Symposium
STEM Day
STEM Day
On Wednesday, May 13th, Rise Up joined crowd of more than 6,000 students and teachers from schools across the Northeast Ohio for STEM Day at Progressive Field, hosted by NEO:STEM and the Cleveland Guardians. This was our second year helping with the event and we had a blast!
The event gave students the opportunity to experience science in a fun, engaging environment before cheering on the Guardians at the ballpark. Throughout the morning, students rotated through exhibits and interactive demonstrations that connected science, technology, engineering, and math to real-world applications which included the science behind baseball.
Rise Up volunteers helped bring hands-on science directly to students by leading a DNA isolation activity. With supplies, materials, and expert guidance provided by our team, more than 300 students had the opportunity to isolate and see their own DNA firsthand. For many students, this experiment served as an exciting introduction to molecular biology and sparked many thoughtful questions from the students.
These pop-up STEM experiences are an important part of our mission to connect with students throughout Cleveland by bringing engaging, hands-on science activities to community centers, summer camps, schools, and local events. We are excited to continue offering these experiences throughout the summer months.
A huge thank you to our partners at NEO:STEM and the Cleveland Guardians for hosting such an incredible event, as well as to all of the students, educators, and volunteers who made the day such a success. Days like this make us thankful for all of the amazing community partners that we work with.
A special shoutout goes to Rise Up volunteers Juan and Kaylyn for sharing their knowledge, enthusiasm, and scientific expertise with hundreds of students throughout the day!
Students learning about DNA
