- December 13, 2025
Tomoka Elementary School students Aaron Dye and Case DeBord play with a non-Newtonian fluid. Photo by Sierra Williams
STEM Outreach students Emelia Thompson and Nicholas Christianson with the dry ice experiment. Photo by Sierra Williams
Tomoka Elementary 5th Grader Ayla Beach plays with static electricity. Photo by Sierra Williams
STEM Outreach students Elizabeth Ptak and Ilan Soler show Tomoka Elementary School students physics experiments. Photo by Sierra Williams
Embry-Riddle student Robert Durham explains kinetic energy to Tomoka Elementary gifted students. Photo by Sierra Williams
Tomoka 5th grader Sai Naran (left) places a marble on the slide for a kinetic energy experiment. Photo by Sierra Williams
Embry-Riddle student Nikunj Bhatia helps Tomoka 5th gifted students with an experiment. Photo by Sierra Williams
STEM Outreach students Ilan Soler and Elizabeth park show Tomoka Elementary School students physics experiments. Photo by Sierra Williams
Embry-Riddle students Nicholas Christianson and Emelia Thompson show 5th graders experiments using dry ice. Photo by Sierra Williams
Tomoka Elementary School's 5th Grade gifted students and teachers with the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's STEM Outreach students and professor. Photo by Sierra Williams
From left to right: Tomoka Elementary Principal Julie Roseboom, Gifted program teacher Kelli Chehaitli, Embry Riddle Engineering Professor Claudia Ehringer Lucas, Embry Riddle STEM Outreach President Ryan Mercer, STEM Outreach Vice President Ilan Soler and Tomoka gifted teacher Patrick Jones. Photo by Sierra Williams
Amongst the laughter and smiles, Tomoka Elementary School’s 37 gifted fifth graders may not have looked like they were learning science on Nov. 14, but that is exactly what was happening.
“We want to give them that hands-on, interactive experience,” said Ryan Mercer, an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University STEM student. “To get their foot in the door, into the STEM field, and give them their ‘Aha,’ moment to come to learn and love engineering and STEM in itself.”
Every year, Tomoka Elementary School sends its fifth grade gifted students to Embry-Riddle to take part in its STEM Outreach program, of which Mercer is the current president. The program focuses on mentoring local K-12 students where ERAU STEM students go to local schools and teach principles in science, technology, engineering and math.
The group will also be meeting with Ormond Beach Cub Scouts Pack 327 on Nov. 24, marking the fourth year in a row the STEM Outreach students have met with the cub scouts.
This is the first year the program came to the Tomoka students, instead of the other way around. A group of 12 ERAU students set up five stations where Tomoka students were able to experience interactive lessons on static electricity, kinetic energy, chemistry and physics.
Tomoka Elementary School Principal Julie Rosebloom said it was exciting that the students could experience the science enrichment of the STEM Outreach program from their school.
“The students, this way, get to spend so much more time in their school day and not miss as much of their other subjects,” Rosebloom said.
STEM Outreach faculty advisor and ERAU associate engineering professor Claudia Ehringer Lucas has been the STEM Outreach advisor for eight years.
Lucas said the STEM events allow those children who do not have exposure to the sciences to be able to see that these fields are available to them.
Lucas’s own son, a fifth grader in Tomoka’s gifted program, participated in the STEM event. As an engineer, professor and as a parent, she said, she hopes her ERAU students are providing these children with an opportunity to learn about STEM that they might not get elsewhere.
“I definitely want the students from Embry-Riddle to give the opportunity for younger students to look up to them and learn from them,” Lucas said.
Mercer said the ERAU students were not just there to supervise the experiments but they were actively teaching the kids about why each demonstration responds the way it does. The students planned in advance ways to teach the principles in simple, understandable ways to inspire the children.
“We love going to these places and giving kids this moment,” Mercer said.
