Dasia Taylor to teach STEAM workshop she created to preteens next month

IOWA CITY — Nationally-recognized innovator and Iowa City West High School graduate Dasia Taylor is hosting a STEAM workshop series for 12- to 15-year-olds next month at South East Junior High School in Iowa City.

The three-day workshop is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 11 to 13. Students can choose to attend one or all three days to learn more about science, technology, engineering, arts and medical science (STEAM) through immersive, hands-on learning.

The cost of the workshop is $40 a day or $99 for three days. Tickets can be purchased at dasiataylor.com. The deadline to register is March 1. Limited spots are available.

Students do not need any prior knowledge in science, technology, engineering, arts and medical science to participate.

During each day of the workshop — held over spring break for most students in Eastern Iowa — participants will engage in “epic” adventures — created by Taylor — like an escape room, learn to 3D print and code a robot.

Day One, students will put their problem-solving skills to the test as they crack codes through experiments during this STEAM-based escape room. An escape room is an immersive game where people find clues and solve a series of puzzles that lead them to finding a key to “unlock” the room and “escape.”

During the second day of the workshop, students get to create their own customized cookie cutters using a 3D printer.

On the final day of the workshop, students will get to code and then race robots called SpheroBots.

As a student at Iowa City West High School, where she graduated in 2021, Taylor, now 20-years-old, created surgical sutures that change color to let patients know if a wound is infected. She envisioned the sutures being used in developing countries where they could save lives and money. Infections could be treated early with antibiotics instead of surgery.

In 2021, Taylor competed in the Regeneron Science Talent Search where she was named the Seaborg Award winner, named after nuclear chemist Glenn T. Seaborg, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1951.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search is the oldest and most prestigious science and math competition in the United States for high school seniors. Each year, around 2,000 students submit original research in critically important scientific fields of study and are judged by leading experts in their fields.

The competition focuses on identifying, inspiring and engaging the nation’s most promising young scientists who are creating the ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges.

Since she competed in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, Taylor has been nationally recognized. She was named the 2023 Iowa Woman of the Year presented by USA Today, which recognizes leaders who are making significant impact in their communities.

Taylor was featured in the Rebel Girls series in a book called “Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women.”

Taylor was even featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in April 2021. She currently is a sophomore at the University of Iowa studying global health.

Taylor, who herself graduated from South East Junior High School — where the STEAM workshop will be offered — said she wants to inspire others to explore careers in science, medicine and technology.

“STEAM education is really fun for me, and it’s really fun to see kids’ faces light up when they do something like this and are engaged in learning,” Taylor said.

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