North Texas STEM teacher honored with her own statue at women’s exhibit at Smithsonian

As the director of STEM at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, Jenn Makins works to lead students into careers that could have historical impact.

She also made a little history of her own lately.

Makins is one of only 120 women nationwide represented for a Women in STEM exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The first all-female exhibit at the museum ran through March, which is also National Women’s History Month.

The exhibit, titled “If Then/She Can,” featured statues of all 120 women excelling in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The statues are life-sized, 3D printed models of the women.

The statues were previously on display at NorthPark Mall in Dallas last fall before they were shipped to the Smithsonian for the display on the National Mall.

“Having a statue recognizing my work and that of the STEM team at Parish is equal parts thrilling and humbling,” Makins said. “Having a statue is amazing in and of itself. You go into teaching to serve others, hoping to have an impact on the students; it never once occurred to me that I might ever have a statue — let alone that it would be at the Smithsonian Castle.”

Each ambassador was scanned while holding a prop/tool representing their field of work. The statues were printed and then painted orange. Makins’ statue is holding a drill with a tape measure on her hip.

“I chose these tools because my favorite tool — our laser cutter — was too large, and I use a drill and tape measure fairly regularly,” she said.

Makins, from Dallas, was further honored by being one of about a dozen women asked to speak at the event.

“Much like the statue, the opportunity to present at the Smithsonian Museum is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “As a teacher, I speak to groups on the regular. This was definitely different. There were butterflies before and after. It was special to have my family there.”

The subject of her speech was inspired by her students. It was titled “The Failure Vector.” In it she described her own career path from a once-struggling student to being in the spotlight at one of the world’s most famous museums.

“In STEM and the maker world we like to fail rapidly to learn from our efforts. My path from high school to college and to the Smithsonian was far from perfect,” she said. “I worked with a tutor on the weekend and remember doing extra credit project after extra credit project just to keep my grade up so I could be eligible to play soccer.

“I think it is important that kids hear that in addition to being unattainable, perfection is not required to have a career, even an extraordinary one.”