Teen launches youth-led STEM program to spark curiosity in Socorro students

At just 17 years old, Socorro High School senior Anastasia Zagrai is the founder and manager of Socorro Sparks, a youth-led STEM program created to introduce students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics through hands-on, interactive lessons. The program launched in March 2025 and currently operates at multiple sites around Socorro.

“I grew up going to school in rural areas, and I noticed there weren’t a lot of opportunities for kids to explore STEM in a fun way,” Zagrai said. “There’s this misconception that STEM is only for ‘smart kids’ or ‘nerds,’ but that’s really not true.”

Zagrai said she wanted to create a program that meets students at their level and helps them see how STEM connects to the world around them. Rather than worksheets or lectures, Socorro Sparks relies on games, experiments and physical activities to teach complex ideas in accessible ways.

For example, elementary students learn about math concepts like spatial reasoning and coordinate systems through movement and storytelling, while middle school students explore real-world applications of science. In one activity focused on the center of gravity, students experimented with balance and motion to understand why bodies and buildings behave the way they do.

“We try to make difficult concepts tangible,” Zagrai said. “When kids can feel it and see it, it clicks.”

What makes the program especially unique is that it is entirely student-run. Socorro Sparks has nine volunteers — all high school students from Socorro High School — plus one college student from New Mexico Tech. The volunteers are Niki Plank, Geovanni Vazquez, Alexandra Zagrai, Kailyn Woods, Jullian Adcock, Rylan Timmons, Riley Sewell, AJ Gatto, Anna Zagrai, and Kimberly Scarborough, who is their teacher sponsor from Cottonwood Valley Charter School.

Volunteers are organized into three teams: curriculum and teaching, logistics, and social media.

The teaching team designs lesson plans and presents them in classrooms, while the logistics team manages supplies, scheduling and data collection. A social media volunteer handles outreach and promotion.

The program began as a solo effort last spring, when Zagrai worked with students at Cottonwood Valley Charter School and Parkview Elementary, reaching about 25 children. Over the summer, she partnered with the New Mexico Tech Children’s Center, working with another 15 students. This fall, Socorro Sparks returned to Cottonwood Valley and is planning to expand again next semester with both elementary and middle school offerings.

Zagrai said partnerships vary by location and require coordination with school administrators, principals and outside organizations, such as the Rio Grande Educational Cooperative. On average, she spends between seven and twelve hours per week outside of school managing the program.

Funding for Socorro Sparks is minimal. The program relies mostly on donated or personally owned supplies, though Zagrai has received support from the local school board and has held discussions with Explora, a science museum in Albuquerque, about potential partnerships.

“We don’t really ask for funding,” she said. “It’s just nice to have support so we can get materials when we need them.”

While there is no final presentation or competition at the end of the program, Zagrai said success is measured by student engagement.

“Our goal is to ignite interest,” she said. “When a student starts out disinterested and then leaves wanting to learn more about STEM, that’s a win for us.”

Zagrai’s passion for engineering started early. She said she knew by age five that she wanted to become a civil engineer, inspired by a love of math, building and hands-on problem-solving. After graduating this coming spring, she plans to pursue a degree in civil engineering with hopes to also study mechanical engineering. She is currently applying to several universities, including MIT.

Ultimately, Zagrai said her long-term goal is to use engineering to improve rural communities.

“I want to make education better and help build stronger infrastructure,” she said. “I want to use what I’ve been given to help my community.”