Riverside Resident Wins First Prize at State STEP Conference

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Mandy Van Every of Ontario Street, an 11th grader at Hutchinson Central Technical High School and a participant in the UB-based Science & Technology Enrichment Program (STEP), won a first prize last month at the first annual STEP Conference in Syracuse.

Van Every's poster presentation, "Osteoporosis: Are You at Risk?," took the top prize in the human-services division.

Other posters presented at the conference by Buffalo STEP participants were on "Scoliosis: Diagnosis and Treatment" by Hutch Tech senior Lawrence Barker, III of Adams Street, and "Robotics" by Aaron Clanton of Woodlawn Avenue, a ninth grader at Lafayette High School, and Richard Kemp of Butler Avenue, an 11th grader at City Honors High School.

STEP, which operates out of UB's Office of Public Service and Urban Affairs, is an after-school and summer educational-outreach program designed for students in grades seven through 12 who are interested in careers in science and technology.

The competition in Syracuse was sponsored by LeMoyne College and Syracuse University, in conjunction with the New York State Education Department.