Inspiring Students at STEM Fest 2024

More than 730 students attended the 2nd annual STEM Fest 2024 on Thursday, January 25 in Tahlequah, Okla. The Cherokee Nation School District invited students from 22 area schools to participate in the one-day event designed to highlight the world of STEM.

Supported by the SAME Foundation, the Tulsa Post, and the Cherokee Nation School District, STEM Fest 2024 attracted, enticed, and inspired young students about the possibilities of STEM focused careers. The busy one-day event featured 22 vendors from the A/E/C and education communities. The first half of the day opened to middle schoolers, and the vendors brought hands-on projects and experiments designed to both be fun and practical. Students were able to experience STEM principles and apply them to real world challenges.

The afternoon session followed a similar track as the morning, but emphasized STEM focused careers for the high-school students.

The vendors present at the event represented a wide range of industry, government, education, and non-profit entities including NASA, USACE, the United Engineering Foundation, the Baker Hughes Foundation, and many others. Each group came with something different for the students to experience. While some students steered remote controlled robots through various tasks, others were learning the basics of aerodynamics at the paper airplane table.

At the SAME table, students took the engineering challenge of building a structure using a single sheet of paper that had to hold 500 times its own weight. Many took this challenge very seriously and all seemed to have fun! SAME is proud to participate in this unique event, and support the important mission of nurturing the next generation of STEM professionals. We look forward to continuing this important work by helping to expand and improve the program next year, and in years to come.