TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Independent School District is giving the community a second chance to get a first-hand look at the district’s STEM programs in action with an upcoming special event. TISD will be hosting its second annual Spring Into STEM event at Santa Fe Plaza (301 West Avenue A, Temple, Texas 76501) on Saturday, April 13th, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
The Spring Into STEM event is free and open to the public and will feature more than 30 booths with a variety of STEM related activities. Meta has joined the event as this year’s title sponsor and will be providing equipment and devices for stations including, Sphero BOLTS, VEX robotics, Makey Makey circuit boards, virtual reality, an Alive Studio rug, and Strawbees – a project that allows student to build and code a plant. Other projects and stations will include STEM challenges, hands on activities, robotics, and coding, make and take projects and opportunities to engage in interactive STEM activities. There will be challenges geared to all age groups of students from pre-K through 12th grade.
“Temple ISD’s Spring into STEM event connects our community and our schools to provide learning opportunities based on science, technology, engineering, and math concepts,” said Ashley Jones, director of digital learning for Temple ISD. “This event challenges our advanced learners in CTE career pathways to showcase their knowledge. It engages our youngest learners with design challenges that inspire students to take risks and learn from mistakes. This event is possible due to out title sponsor, Meta, TISD teachers and staff, and the excellent local community organizations that have donated their time and resources for our students and families.”
The booths will be staffed by volunteers from TISD, ranging from student volunteers, to teachers, digital learning staff, librarians, and principals. There will also be community partners on hand as this year’s event focuses on career connections and building on the links between career and community partnerships.
“STEM careers are a fast-growing part of our workforce here in Central Texas,” Johanna Tulloch, Thornton Elementary School STEM teacher said. “Spring into STEM is an event that makes viewing the impact of science, technology, engineering, and math in our own community not only accessible, but fun. We love seeing students and families make connections while learning at this event.”
This year’s event will feature almost twice as many booths as last year’s inaugural Spring into STEM program. There will also be more immersion experiences for students and families to participate in, including Temple College’s mobile STEM lab and an inflatable planetarium from the Austin Planetarium. The community partners will also represent a broader area of Central Texas than just the Temple/Belton area and include Revol Greens, 3D Printing, Cloud Construction, 7T Ranch, Temple Public Library, Temple Children’s Museum, City of Temple Recycling, CGI. Cultivate Academy, and Wild Birds Unlimited.
“This year, Temple ISD is hosting its second annual Spring into STEM event,” said Kayla DeBacker, STEM teacher at Kennedy-Powell Elementary School. “Our goal is to continue to build links between STEM-focused community partners and our TISD families. With the number of booths almost doubling this year, each year promises to be bigger and better than the last!”