​We're student-run and a 100% volunteer-based team.​

Comprised of dedicated students from schools across Southern California, meet the team that brings Steamport together:

Leadership

Steamport Director

Hi! My name is Ben and I'm currently a junior at Troy High School. Since middle school I have enjoyed working with younger kids. My interest in the sciences, especially biology, as well as in visual and digital arts has helped me discover ways in which I can introduce STEAM to kids in the community.  Through Steamport, I hope to help spark the same passion I have for tech, science, and arts in our students. 

Dana Point and Laguna Hills Program Coordinator

Hi! My name is Julia Bissonette and I am currently a senior at Laguna Hills High School. Ever since I was young, I have had a curious mind and a love for the arts. Since then, my passion for math, science, and visual arts have developed into an interest for mechanical engineering. I hope to introduce the kids in my community to the things I find fascinating about the ways in which the world works and inspire them to pursue their interests in the STEAM fields.

Anaheim Program Coordinator

​Hello! My name is Sandy and I’m a senior at Canyon High School. I have a love for biology (human and marine biology to be specific), music, visual arts, and writing. My dreams and hopes are to become a pediatric cardiologist or a marine biologist in the future. Through STEAMPORT, I’m looking forward to combining my love for working with children and my love for the sciences and arts to help expose the community’s youth to the STEAM fields. I’m excited to begin giving back to the community in a beneficial way!

Steamport Creator

My name is Yi-An, and I am a bioengineering student at the University of Pennsylvania. I graduated from OCSA, as part of the Visual Arts Conservatory. 
​I created Steamport aiming to bring to others an experience I wished was available when I was younger—an earlier exposure to the mechanics behind how things fly or why things glow, alongside an open space to explore these questions. With friends, I launched Steamport in 2016, investing time and effort in hopes of impact our community in an area that seemed to have been left open. It was the dream of a girl who spent her elementary school years constructing things on the kitchen floor with whatever she could find in the garage storage or recycling bin. In Steamport, I love being with the kids--making cabbage juice pH indicators, building moving models of lungs, but most of all, having fun.

Program Writers

For questions about our program curriculum development, please reach out to Yi-An at yian.s.hsieh@gmail.com.
For clarification questions about the curriculum content, please email steamportmail@gmail.com.
Yi-An Hsieh graduated from the Orange County School of the Arts Visual Arts Conservatory. She is now studying bioengineering and data science at UPenn. She is passionate about the metal arts and loves cats, hiking, and reading mystery thrillers.
Raphaelle Paracuellos graduated from the Orange County School of the Arts as part of the Muscial Theater Conservatory is now an undergraduate at UC San Diego for Bioengineering. In her free time, she enjoys practicing aerial silks and going to the beach.
Romina Carballera is an Orange County School of the Arts Ballet Ballet Folklórico graduate. She plans to study medicine and become a nurse in the future.
Kieana Shao graduated from Canyon High School and is at California Polytechnic University to pursue her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology. 
Julia Wang graduated from the Orange County School of the Arts where she studied violin. She is currently at Yale for Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Pre-Medicine. She is thankful to STEAMPORT for giving her opportunities to share her love for science with kids in her community. Julia also runs her own non-profit, STEAMachine, which seeks to make learning engaging by integrating physical fitness and STEM with pop culture like Star Wars and Avengers.
Jasmine Nguyen graduated from Canyon High School. She is a student at Stanford University, where she hopes to pursue Political Science or Sociology and then enter law school. In her free time, she can be found reading philosophy and binge watching The Office.

Additional Writers: Joanne Park, Lawrence Wu, Tori Kim , Trenyce Tong, Austin Kim

Special thanks to:

 
​Mary Pham from Tustin Memorial Academy,
Kristin Whipple from Dana Point Library and her time at University Park Library,
Tiffany DeLeuze from Canyon Hills Library,
Kimberly Tran-Hoang from University Park Library,
Maggie Villalobos and Adam from Heritage Park Library, 
and Shanon Delaney from Library of the Canyons and her time at Tustin Library,
​as well as, Bonnie McLaren and Helen Bui from Katie Wheeler Library,
Chuck Carey and Mary and Grace from Orangethrope Learning Center,
Leticia Monsivais from Costa Mesa Tech Library, and Lindsay Klick from Tustin Library,
and lastly, our supportive parents, your encouragement, your feedback, has helped us grow to where were are today ( and with the hours of carpooling and fundraising, you've brought our team together ... literally.)