STEM Sprouts Kenya Lead Judges at Young Scientists Kenya

Moses Akwiri Okoth, Chapter Lead for STEM Sprouts Kenya's Siaya/Kisumu Region chapter, served as a judge at the Young Scientists Kenya (YSK) National Science and Innovation Fair, representing STEM Sprouts Kenya at the national event.

YSK brings together secondary school students from across Kenya to present original science, technology, and innovation projects before a panel of judges drawn from academia, industry, and the STEM education sector. As a judge, Moses evaluated student projects on technical merit, originality, and real-world applicability, with particular attention to work with strong problem-solving potential in low-resource school settings.

The experience gave Moses a national view of student innovation trends and reinforced a pattern he sees regularly in the region: strong, resourceful project work coming out of schools with limited facilities. It also created an opportunity to connect with fellow judges, exhibitors, and education stakeholders whose work intersects with STEM Sprouts Kenya's mission in western Kenya.

The judging experience directly informs several strands of the chapter's ongoing work, including the Applied AI Teacher Cohort, the Msingi Kwanza framework, and the chapter's engagement in Kenya's AI Bill advocacy. Insights from the fair will help ensure student projects coming out of partner schools are better aligned with national judging standards ahead of future cycles.

Looking ahead, the chapter is exploring ways to prepare student teams from partner schools, including through the Siaya Community Library, to enter future editions of YSK, using the fair as a benchmark and motivation point within its ongoing programming.

STEM Sprouts Kenya operates the Siaya STEAM Hub, extending STEM Sprouts' hands-on programming model to underserved communities in the Siaya/Kisumu region of Kenya.