Merci Best - STEAMKITX

By Glenda Lassiter

Merci Best really has been a research scientist since she was 13 years old. She was that age when she was matriculated in a math and science summer program. But having mastered the classroom content before it began, instead she was placed in a research lab with students several grades ahead. Merci studied the eyes of fruit flies as a model of the human brain. Those mere weeks of biomedical research opened a world where, for a girl barely in her teen years, science and fun blended.

While many may think Best is rather unique - and perhaps she is - she believes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) abilities are more common than some people might be inclined to think. Reveal those talents. Do it early. Most of all, make it enjoyable. Those thoughts sparked an idea that led to Best's creation of STEAMKITX - pronounced "steam kits" - a company that produces and sells packaged kits of five applied learning experiences camouflaged in fun.

Best is a mastermind who incorporated novelty in hands-on activities that model curiosity about STEAM, the acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. She created one kit based around artisanal ice cream, and another that is sports-inclined. The target audience is 5- to 12-year olds - impressionable and capable.

For the adolescent who receives an Ice STEAM Boss kit where they make a frozen, creamy dessert, their genius will be unveiled as they dabble in the three states of matter - science; create a personalized jingle - (music) technology; build a balloon-powered ice cream truck - engineering; design a business logo - art; and wrap it all up with a business plan they can actually pitch - math.

Artistic eye and technical precision also come together in STEAMKITX's other box of tricks called Football STEAM Kickoff. As a neuroscientist, Best incorporated her concern about minimizing brain injury by including a protective egg-drop experiment for the science aspect of the kit. Students make a football field and use geometric shapes to create a 3D football - math; determine positioning for catapulting the football - engineering; design a penalty flag - art; and graph win/loss percentages - technology.

"Some kids, we have to trick where they don't think it's learning," Best said of her cleverly conceived products. "If you want to get your kid engaged in learning, our kits are perfect for that," Best said. "At the same time, if your kid is already engaged in STEM, our kit can potentially enhance the interest they already have and explore concepts they may have already learned in school. They may have heard some of the terms in school. We've seen tremendous buy-in from the most hesitant kids."

The idea to maximize learning through interactive activities came during Best's undergraduate years at William & Mary as a neuroscience major and community studies minor. She grasped that at different stages of education, women and African Americans, in particular, "leak out" or disengage from STEM learning. "That just fueled my interest to fill this void," she stated. Regardless of age or gender, though, Best wants the ability of any young student to tapped "before they lose interest in STEM. Intimidating is a feeling that some people have (about STEM). That is a real feeling, but our kits combat that by bringing to life that you're not just reading about it, you're actually doing it."

Best sees STEAMKITX products as "a curriculum for STEM intervention" and an approach that can enhance the learning structures of schools, camps, and other educational programs. "If we could get schools to understand teaching in silos is not effective. How about integrating all the subjects into one lesson, so science principles are interweaving with others? STEAM as a framework. And you don't need a science degree to work with our STEAM product because we've already done that background work for the teacher. Within one activity, as a lesson by utilizing STEAMKITX, you can cover so much more content - creative/performing/visual arts, math, and engineering concepts using tools, machines, and computers - and have the students engaged."

Best calls herself "a scientist rooted in the arts". Best who received a bachelor of science in 2014 and has a master's degree in Biological and Physical Sciences, is a University of Virginia Ph.D. candidate who will defend her dissertation in April 2023. Yet, she has had connections to art disciplines in dance, music, film and performing arts. Further, she has been a business owner since 2020. "I love my job," she said. "I love being a scientist and I am becoming an entrepreneur every day."

In her entrepreneurial lane, Best approached the Old Dominion University Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative's Women's Business Center (WBC) for the information it offers to business heads who are female. Erika Small-Sisco, who is its Program Director, introduced Best to an opportunity to apply to the Collegiate Accelerator program within the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The Accelerator, which did accept Best into its membership, offers personalized mentorship for collegiate female business founders. At WBENC's national conference this month, Best will compete in its pitch competition for a $10,000 prize to the most disruptive and innovative businesses. Hopeful and supportive, Sisco-Small extols STEAMKITX as a unique company with the potential to scale.

In her doctoral world, Best studied Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders. Just as she had as a teenager, she used fruit flies as a model system for research. She sees her heights as possible for any student, despite the belief some people have that kids are either artistic or technical, not both. By design, STEAMKITX dispels that as a myth.

"Basically at early ages kids are strong. They perform at the same level as boys but don't always feel that confident. Unconsciously, sometimes, teachers and parents are more readily praising girls for being neat and helpful, but for boys, praising their cognitive abilities. There was a selective way that I was praised," Best explained, alluding to times some parents of her friends would compare their own children against Best's technical accomplishments. "The parents didn't mean any harm by it. They thought they were giving a compliment. But that does do something to the value of their children's aspirations.

"People upgrade STEM but downgrade the arts. You don't have to devalue the arts to inspire someone to pursue STEM," said Best whose company's catchphrase is STEAMKITX, where STEM and arts go hand in hand. "What STEAMKITX is trying to do is intersect these two fields and show how, if they are intersecting, how we can empower all students, rather than demoralize another group."

"When we encourage girls and boys now," Best said, "they will have the skills to join the STEM workforce and we'll all benefit." In that way, a benefit of sharing a STEAMKITX product will be that is a gift that keeps giving.

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