STEM Festival to showcase career paths Feb. 24

The STEM Festival plans to take over the entire Cedar Rapids Public Library on February 24, with a career festival that's open to all area students and families.

Organized by the Cedar Rapids Community School District, this year's event - designed to introduce students to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM - will feature changes that were recommended by last year's attendees. Specifically, attendees wanted to see more math incorporated into the event and more employers represented.

The STEM Festival also will add arts and humanities to the equation. The event is a collaboration between area schools, businesses and non-profits, according to a release.

More than 225 people attended the festival in 2014, and 500 are expected this year, said Tara Troester, curriculum facilitator at the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

Troester said the request for the inclusion of more math came from student attendees from last year's event.

'We're reaching out to businesses that use math,” she said. 'We always tell students: you'll need this when you're older and they're like, ‘When will I ever need this?' We do want careers showcased so students are able to see with what they're learning in school how that relates.”

The event will feature at least 20 exhibitors, including Rockwell Collins, the University of Iowa College of Engineering, Kirkwood Community College Continuing Education and Metro High School in Cedar Rapids.

Adriana D'Onofrio, senior community relations specialist at Rockwell Collins, said the company wants to do its part to 'keep the STEM momentum going.”

'It is no secret that the demand for STEM careers continues to grow while the supply of qualified candidates is lacking,” D'Onofrio wrote in an email.

Earning a degree in engineering can help open doors to careers not typically considered 'engineering” jobs, she added.

A robotics competition will be held at the library entrance during the event. Students can also learn to code through CoderDoJo, a club for coding for children and teenagers ages 5 to 17.

Last year, students did science experiments with dry ice and made ice cream, prompting one student to say, 'Science is yummy,” Troester recalled.

Troester said knowledge of arts and humanities lends itself to applications in science and technology.

'Arts doesn't necessarily have to mean just drawing or singing like people think of,” she said. 'I just really think of the arts as more of that flexible thinking.”

The STEM Festival will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on February 24 at the Cedar Rapids Public Library. Students and community members from all area school districts can attend. Call Tara Troester at 319-558-1222 for more information. To register as an exhibitor or to reserve a display table, visit https://www.smore.com/zrg7r.