On Saturday, March 2, the Jean Hower Taber Student Union at The University of Akron (UA) was filled with excitement as Kids Career Day took place to celebrate and promote STEM education. Over 250 individuals including participants, parents, presenters and volunteers came together for this event hosted by the Women in Engineering (WIE) Program at the College of Engineering and Polymer Science (CEPS).
Children in grades 1-6 explored the wonders of science, technology, engineering and math as they participated in several interactive activities including: Building Solar Powered Devices, Science of Making Food, Understanding AI and Operating Boston Dynamics Robot 'Spot'.
"Through Kids Career Day, the WIE Program aims to inform, educate and bring awareness about STEM-related education and careers," shared Dr. Neete Saha, director of diversity and inclusion at CEPS who leads the WIE Program. "I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to the event and I hope to continue with this endeavor."
Below are some heartfelt testimonials from presenters and parents highlighting the importance of Kids Career Day.
WHAT PRESENTERS HAD TO SAY
"Kids Career Day was not only a learning experience for me, but it also left me excited to attend future years, not only as a presenter but with family to participate with their kids. It’s a great way for kids to get engaged with others, learn about STEM, intrigue their minds and have fun!" — Jeremy Rowerstein, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
"Kids Career Day provided a unique platform to engage with young minds and spark their interest in STEM fields. Seeing their enthusiasm and curiosity was truly inspiring and reinforced the importance of such initiatives in nurturing the next generation of innovators. I believe that sharing our experiences can indeed help highlight the impact of Kids Career Day and encourage others to support similar endeavors. The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) was fortunate enough to host a workshop for first and second graders. Through this workshop, we were able to connect and learn more about their individual passions and future goals! Overall, Kids Career Day is an amazing event to spark interest in STEM for the next generation of children." — Bethel Tsige, Society of Women Engineers
"NASA Robotics looks forward to participating in Kids Career Day every year! We love being able to get kids engaged in STEM and more specifically robotics. Seeing the kids excited about soldering and building the drawing robots was really rewarding." — Callie Lewis, NASA Mining Robotics
WHAT PARENTS HAD TO SAY
"My daughter LOVED Kids Career Day! Seeing women in STEM fields was excellent for her and got her excited for the future." — Lyalee Ali
"My son loved the Kids Career Day event. He said that he would love to come back next year. He enjoyed all the STEM engineering-based activities. He enjoyed building with honeycomb, marshmallows and sticks, the paper activity and the solar windmill. He is working on making his robot that he took home. We can't wait for the Kids Career Day event next year!" — Ashlee Dolak
"My first grade daughter absolutely loved Kids Career Day. This event was the perfect way to expose her to how science can be fun and how science professionals can be women. She was beaming as she told me what engineers do and was amazed at the engineering activities that she did throughout the morning, including the “paper bridge” project. I would highly recommend this event to any parent, and I’m very grateful to the team for their efforts in putting on an inspiring day for tomorrow’s innovators." — Jessica Knopp Cunning
The WIE Program has been leading STEM initiatives since 1993. For more information, click here.
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Story by CEPS Marketing.
Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or cboyd@uakron.edu.