Society of Hispanic Engineers Launches Junior Chapters in Springdale

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Members of the Society of Hispanic Engineers collegiate chapter

The Society of Hispanic Engineers celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by helping to launch junior chapters at Har-Ber and Springdale high schools in Springdale as a way to extend the group's outreach and service.

According to its mission statement, the society changes lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential and to impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support and development. It is the largest association in the nation for Hispanics in STEM, which refers to science, technology, engineering and math.

Junior chapters of the society provide youth with opportunities to participate in hands-­on STEM activities. Members can attend the Pre-­College Symposium held at the national conference, participate in academic and engineering summer camps, compete in National Science Bowls and participate in local science fairs. Junior chapter members also receive mentoring and develop leadership skills.

Jennifer Baker is the junior chapter adviser at Har-Ber. She said society president Fatima Treto, a Har-Ber graduate, approached her in 2021 with her vision of establishing a junior chapter at the school.

"Without reservation, I offered to help. Har-Ber High School has a remarkably diverse group of students, with our Hispanic students being our largest population at 43 percent. Many of our Hispanic students are unaware of what opportunities they have regarding higher education. SHPE is bridging that gap and is providing mentoring opportunities for our students," she said.

Shannon Knowlton is president of the junior chapter at Har-Ber. She said the group offers great support to aspiring engineers.

"Solving problems, designing and engineering have always been a passion of mine, but, as the best and most introverted engineers will know, it is not always easy to assimilate into a community," she said. "Belonging to SHPE, I can lead a like-minded group with the space and resources to share errors, learning and ideas for our future," she said.

Jennifer Perez, adviser of the new junior chapter Springdale High School, teaches computer science programming and cybersecurity. She said the society empowers students.

"Many of our high school students are not aware of careers in the STEM fields," she said. "We strongly believe SHPE Jr. will help increase awareness about careers in engineering and will provide our students with resources in a field where job growth continues to increase."

The society's collegiate chapter hopes to help establish a junior chapter in every school district in Northwest Arkansas.

The 2022-2033 collegiate officers are Alejandra Barroso, president; Fatima Treto, vice president; Cesar Trujillo; SHPE Jr. representative; Santiago Dorado, vice president of internal relations; Gisela Perez, vice president of communications; Alexis Mercado, vice president of finance; and Claudia Mercado, fundraising chair.

The society's co-advisers are Thomas Carter, assistant dean of academic and student affairs, and Patrice Storey, assistant director of justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.