BLUE ASH, Ohio — According to American Affairs, only 20% of high school graduates are prepared for college-level work in STEM majors. One Ohio woman is working to change that by getting kids excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

One kid excited about STEM is Madeline Catanzaro, who along with her dad and brother participated in The STEM Lab's family night. With the help from her dad, Madeline, 6, documented her fingerprint, and then compared it to see which type of print she has.

It’s a part of a forensic activity at The Stem Lab in Cincinnati.

“When you show your fingerprint, it looks cool because we all have a different fingerprint,” said Madeline. 

Chelsea Clark is CEO of The STEM Lab. She opened the lab three years ago in Blue Ash, with the idea to help children develop the problem-solving and critical thinking skills they'll need to succeed. She said family STEM night is designed to help kids with those skills. 

“In this case, they had to come up with who they thought the suspect was that matched the crime scene,” said Clark. “In other activities, that’s comparing the solution that they’ve designed to meet the problem that they’re facing.”

Madeline and her family also worked on the next phase of the playtime investigation — the blood analysis. After adding different elements to the blood, they tried to figure out which suspect’s blood matches the one at the crime scene.

“Some of them changed, but number two still looked the same as the crime scene,” said Madeline.

In 2019, women made up 27% of all workers in STEM fields according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s why Clark is hoping more young girls, like Madeline, will get involved and get interested in the field.  

“When I set out to do this, it was one a way of giving back to the community, but it’s also about showing dad and showing mom that ‘little’ Catherine can figure stuff out,” she said. “She can do engineering stuff just as great as ‘little’ Johnny." 

After successfully figuring out the suspect, Madeline was already eyeing a future as a forensic scientist. This young detective already has a good understanding of the job.

“The activities were fun because we learned about science things and about everybody’s different because their fingerprint, their blood, and their handwriting,” she said. 

For more information about The STEM Lab visit its website.