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Five local middle school students were honored for essays exploring women whose contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics received little recognition during their lifetimes.

The McLean Area Branch of the American Association of University Women recognized the winners of its 2026 STEM Essay Contest during its annual potluck dinner at the McLean Community Center on March 24, 2026.

The contest invited seventh- and eighth-grade students from six local public and private schools to research women, including women of color, who made a difference in STEM fields. Preference was given to essays about women who remain relatively unknown. Students described each woman’s work, its impact and why they chose their subject.

Aleksandra Bidenko, an eighth grader at Longfellow Middle School, won first place. Honorable mentions went to eighth graders Ridheema Dusange of Luther Jackson Middle School and Mario Fernandez Granda and Zafyr Rahman of Longfellow Middle School, as well as Longfellow seventh grader Bowen Wu.

During the ceremony, Bidenko read her essay about Valentina Prokof’eva, a Russian astronomer whose innovative research contributed to the discovery of double and multiple asteroids.

The other winning essays focused on Bibha Chowdhuri, Jane Hinton, Janaki Ammal and Huang-Wu Lu.

Eleven branch volunteers judged the entries: Pam Bacher, Lynn Gutter, Christina Hamilton, Myrtle Hendricks-Corrales, Sherry Joslin, Sue Kaleish, Mafalda Marrocco, Judy Page, Ruth Nowjack-Raymer, Diana Parsell and Adarsh Trehan.

Hendricks-Corrales, Nowjack-Raymer and STEM Chair Judy Page served on the contest’s steering committee.