NDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An Indianapolis third grader has added a new title to her name. She is now a published Author. Samiah Turner,8, is in third grade at Phalen Leadership Academy.
Turner published her book entitled “My Life as an 8-Year Old Engineer” within the last month. The book is written from her perspective.
“Everything we use is connected to engineering. Phones, engineering. iPads, engineering. Cameras, engineering,” said Turner.
Turner said she wants to become an inventor or a scientist when she grows up.
“Most girls wanna become things like fashion designers or beauticians, but rarely see a girl want to become a scientist. I see STEM as like a career that could help me,” she added.
Turner said she got involved with the school’s STEMnasium program about a year ago and found out that she enjoys it more than she ever expected.
“Engineering gives you a whole new way to express yourself because you can think about something you can invent,” Turner said.
The STEMnasium program at Phalen Leadership Academy was started about 15 years ago by Tariq Al-Nasir, or “Coach T” as the students call him.
“We aim to get those kids connected very early so they start to see themselves as those particular
careers that would otherwise go unfilled, like engineering,” said Al-Nasir.
He said the program is available to anyone in the school.
The PLA network targets children who may not otherwise have access to a high-quality education. According to the school’s website, they serve about 4,000 students across 10 schools, many of whom are African American children and come from low-income communities.
“I think that kids who come from communities where there’s high crime, low everything else. They’re born for STEM because at that young age you potentially know which way to go home and navigate to stay out of trouble. This is what a scientist does. Scientists have to be inquisitive, they have to use inquiry and they have to start to understand simple words like algorithm,” Al-Nasir added.
He added that Turner has already had a few appearances to talk about her book. She recently spoke to a crowd of 1,800 at a school in California.
Her book is for sale on Amazon for $15. There are arrangements being made for a book signing in the Indianapolis area soon.