Gree(n)tings everyone!!!
I hope you and yours are doing well. I'm doing great, all thanks to the Almighty! This past week, I kicked off my Miss Earth Maryland School Tour presenting my Beauties for a Cause project, “Mining Rocks: Importance of Mining in Our Everyday Life.” This platform provides kindergarten through grade 12-level children mining education lessons and activities, and to inform and educate the general public about the importance of mining in their everyday lives. What better place to start my school tour than my Alma Mater, Montgomery Blair High School!
Fun fact: MBHS is the largest school in Montgomery County, Maryland!
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| Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson |
Next stop on Thursday, February 19th was Mr. Punhong's Foundations of Technology and Advanced Technology classes, periods 5 and 7. This class consists of students in grades 10 through 12. Prior to starting my presentation, I shared my personal story with the students about my initial intention of becoming a lawyer when I entered high school but later changed that goal after I took my 9th grade Foundation of Technology class with Dr. James Distler and discovered my passion for hands-on technical work, tools, and machinery. As my high school years progressed, my passion changed my path and I decided to pursue engineering in college and future career. One of the awesome things about these presentations is that the school's principal (Ms. Johnson) sat in on the first presentation, and my high school counselor (Dr. Howard) joined us later in the second presentation.
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| Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson |
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| Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson |
Being in Mr. Punhong's class was very nostalgic for me because taking Foundations of Technology in 9th grade was when I developed my passion for engineering. As I observed, the students still do projects just like we did such as mousetrap cars, hydraulic project, building a bridge, and many more. Additionally, my friends and me used to eat lunch in Mr. Punhong's class and sometimes work on our projects there. The two groups of students had lots of great and challenging questions and conversation, which include: mining working conditions, as well as health and safety of workers; lack of women in STEM/mining fields; pay rate of a starting mining engineer; how mines are reclaimed; Miss Earth United States and Miss Earth pageants, and the role of titleholders; how I got my mining internship in Sierra Leone; gender equality in the mines, regarding wage; courses to take when considering a track in engineering; and many more. Special thanks to Mr. Punhong for having me in his classes and getting the opportunity to talk with his students. I wish all the students excellence and nothing less.
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Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson with Montgomery Blair High School students
Foundation of Technology class, period 5 |
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Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson with Montgomery Blair High School students, Mr. Punhong (teacher), and Dr. Daryl Howard (counselor)
Advanced Technology class, period 7 |
My Goals: (1) to educate the students on what mining is, (2) to inspire at least one student to pursue a degree and career in engineering and/or mining, (3) to ignite or increase the interest of girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; (4) and to inspire the next generation of leaders to be Eco-friendly and thankful for the provisions that Mother Earth has given us.
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| Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson and Dr. Daryl Howard (MBHS counselor) |
Special thanks to my favorite high school counselor, Dr. Howard! He was very instrumental in reaching out to the teachers about my interest in speaking with the students about my Beauties for a Cause project as Miss Earth Maryland. He was very helpful to me while I was a student at Blair, motivated me to be better as my counselor, and even wrote some letters of recommendation for me during the time I was apply to universities as a high school junior and senior. During these two days of 6 presentations to multiple groups of students, I also got to see some of my old teachers and the African club sponsor, Mr. Ngbea. One of the memorable moments was when Dr. Howard brought in the school's yearbook the year I graduated; I got lots of laughs from seeing old photos of myself and classmates, and seeing that I was part of oh so many clubs. I've always been involved!
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Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson and Dr. Daryl Howard (Montgomery Blair High School counselor)
I photobombed myself! Haha! |
I'm so proud that my engineering passion started at Montgomery Blair High School! A school that produces the best and brightest! I am forever a proud Blazer!!!
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| Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson and Ms. Renay C. Johnson (Principal of Montgomery Blair High School) |
I'll love to speak with your class. If you will like me to visit your school in the state of Maryland and present to your students, send me a message (e-mail) at MissEarthMaryland2015@gmail.com
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| Maryland School Tour with Miss Earth Maryland 2015 Ruby B. Johnson |
Ruby B. Johnson,
Your Miss Earth Maryland 2015
Continuing the legacy of beauty and responsibility
