2025 Ochsner Super STEM Student MVPs

Five Chipmunks were chosen as a 2025 Ochsner Super STEM Student MVP, presented by Ochsner Health and The Super Bowl Host Committee! The committee received project submissions from students all across Louisiana and they made it  clear that our Chipmunks are student leaders in STEM and that they have developed a strong set of skills in STEM!

Congratulations to the following students for this amazing academic accomplishment:

🌟 Simone Guidry - "I researched and experimented on the question, 'Which physical therapy hand exercises are most beneficial in improving penmanship in a person’s non-dominant hand?' I tested three different groups: hand-eye coordination, hand strength, and sentence repetition. I found that all of the groups produced a positive change in a person's handwriting, but repetition was the most successful."

🌟 Libbey Luminais - "I explored the work of performance trainers, which led me to investigate the impact of ankle weights on hip strength. My research question—'Do exercises involving ankle resistance weights enhance hip strength and balance time in dance?'—was tested through three different exercises using ankle weights, followed by measuring my balance time in a studio setting. Ultimately, I found that performing ankle weight exercises, particularly flutter kicks, led to a noticeable improvement in my balance time, confirming that ankle weights can be an effective tool for dancers aiming to boost strength and stability."

🌟 Alaina Sauvage - "In my project, I investigated the different effects between protein and carbohydrates and their effect on performance in golf. I performed a 2-week long experiment testing energy bars that were protein-based and carbohydrate-based. I recorded my scores each day to see if one showed an increase in performance."

🌟 Rihanna Valle - "My STEM project was testing whether or not plyometric workouts helped increase a volleyball players' jumping vertical. Being a member of the Chapelle volleyball program, I was able to receive the data that was compiled over a 6 month period of 8th, JV, and Varsity's vertical progression. Players worked out multiple times throughout the week and even if injury occurred, once the player was cleared to start working out again, the data showed that their vertical increased."

🌟 Audrey Weider - "Throughout my trials, I discovered how energy drinks and sports drinks affect athlete's reaction times in aerobic exercises. I performed experiments where I had people drink energy drinks and perform an exercise, then I did the same with the sports drinks, and water. I then compared the results to the group of people drinking water, and concluded which group had better reaction time for each drink/person!"