By: Breeanna Greer
In a partnership between Graceland University, Americorps, Southwest Iowa STEM region, and more, Graceland University will be hosting a STEAM Fest on Wednesday, April 5th, 3-7 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this event.
The STEM Fest is a State of Iowa initiative to have all over the state to increase an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields and to also bring some attention to Iowa. At the STEAM Fest on the Graceland Campus, Art was added to incorporate all the talented students at Graceland.
This event benefits campus by getting Graceland staff and students involved, encouraging younger kids to visit the campus, and it gives Graceland special recognition. The kids that are invited are 2nd to 5th graders, who are prospective students at the university. There are an estimated 300 families visiting campus to attend this event, 30 local business and school departments, and hands on activities for the visitors. The reason for the range of 2nd to 5th graders is because they are the easiest age group to engage, they are early enough to impact because it is said that by 8th grade you have chosen a career path, and they can explore different career possibilities.
This is the first year that Graceland will be hosting this event, but they plan to make it a yearly event. The campus had first planned to host this event three years ago in 2020. Plans were in place, but it ended up being cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak just before the event took place.