NHSEE sparks conversation about the program’s importance after Nashua High School North and South dominate conference

Nashua High Schools North and South took home first, second, and third place overall at the 2025 New Hampshire Science and Engineering Exposition (NHSEE) conference on March 14.

NHSEE, a program that many students argue needs more attention, gives high school students across the state a chance to present their ideas to professionals in the STEM field.

Biotechnology and biomedical sciences, part of the Careers in Technical Education (CTE) program, offers students the opportunity to conduct individual research in their second year of the program..

Nashua School District biotech teachers Dr. Francine Brown and Divya Nagri began implementing individual research projects into their curriculum eight years ago, and believe it continues to greatly benefit students, whether they decide to participate in NHSEE or not.

“I think it provides them a great opportunity to experience the real world’s life of research, especially what it’s like to be in the research field. It allows them to present what they’ve done and defend what they did,” Nagri stated.

First place category winner of Earth and Space Science at the 2025 NHSEE conference, North senior Angelise Pagan, is a member of the biotech program at NHSN.

Pagan said, “NHSEE is very eye-opening and gives you more experience within learning how to give a pitch, being able to present to other people, and getting communication skills.”

NHSN’s Charles Patterson and Irene Rubesh are just a few of many seniors who decided to study STEM after high school, similarly to Pagan. While they would have participated in the conference if they had known, they now have to wait until college to have these experiences.

Patterson, who finished the HVAC program in his junior year, thinks “Most CTE courses could use NHSEE as an opportunity to give students a stepping stone to push themselves forward.”

Rubesh is in the Health Sciences program, but did not know NHSEE was a possibility for students who were not in the biotech program.

Rubesh stated, “Knowing that you don’t have to be in biotech to participate would have opened up a lot of doors for kids who want to go into anything STEM related. I think this could be great for them.”

Nagri estimates that only about 40 or 50 students know about NHSEE across NHSN and NHSS. However, Nagri stated she was “100% sure they would benefit from raised awareness.”