Ask The Experts: Jessie Sun

Q: Why is art now an integral part of science, technology, engineering and math education?

A: “We realized that a lot of the girls who saw themselves more in the art vein didn’t see themselves with a STEM future. In reality, art and STEM tie really hand in hand,” says Jessie Sun, STEAM program leader at Laurel School. “The two cannot exist without each other. A lot of art we see right now is driven because of science. We use art images to describe and simplify complicated schematic designs. Also, both art and STEM really believe in the idea of, OK, what’s next? If you don’t achieve perfection the first time, you grow from it. You get better at it. That’s a mindset we really want our girls to walk away with.”