YAKIMA, Wash. — Yakima Valley College held its annual STEM Day, drawing hundreds of local kids to Glen Anthon Hall. The event, which began as Engineering Day, has expanded to include all STEM fields due to growing interest.
The atmosphere was full of excitement as children explored various activities workshops and presentations designed to spark their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“The kids come in all excited, happy, they’re all screaming, ‘look over there, look at that.’ It kind of really gets you going,” said student volunteer Alejandro Rodriguez.
STEM Navigator Vanessa Tucker emphasized the importance of exposing students to STEM activities to maintain their curiosity and encourage them to question the world.
“It’s really important to expose students to these types of activities and just to STEM in general,” Tucker said.
More than 50 student volunteers, including first-generation student Alejandro Rodriguez, contributed to the event’s success. Rodriguez shared his personal journey into mechanical engineering.
“I did not know I wanted to be a mechanical engineer until two years ago,” he said.
Rodriguez, who has been accepted into Washington State University’s program, aims to design exoskeletons for those who are immobile. He expressed gratitude for being part of the event
“I really like seeing the community involvement. You have kids coming in super excited, super ready. They just want to go out and play. It’s really nice to see that they’re actually getting more involved in the STEM field,” Rodriguez said.
For those who missed this year’s event, Tucker mentioned that Yakima Valley College hosts STEM Day each winter quarter. Keep an eye out for next year’s event.
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