An annual festival for science, engineering, technology and math (STEM) lovers returns to Los Angeles to inspire young people to pursue careers in this field.
The City of STEM Festival will take place at Los Angeles State Historic Park on Saturday, April 1 and is a free event for the whole family.
“We have over 170 STEM organizations participating in activities,” said Benjamin Dickow, president of Columbia Memorial Space Center.
Several schools in Los Angeles have received support from this institution to help them deepen their knowledge of science and mathematics.
“Bill Nye ‘the man of science’ will be with us and this year we have partnered with the Los Angeles Public Libraries to organize LA Maker Faire”.
The event is sponsored by the Columbia Memorial Space Centerbased in Downey.
“I think kids really like being able to touch and do,” says Lucy Vargas, of Columbia Memorial Space Center, who will be one of the event’s bilingual participants. “There’s a difference between teaching kids like that with books, with videos, but they can touch it.”
The City of STEM Festival, Dickow points out, is an initiative that takes place throughout the month of April in different parts of the city.
In addition to the festival, the Columbia Memorial Space Center offers such activities.
“Since I was little I wanted to work at NASA, I wanted to be an astronaut, but when I was growing up it wasn’t very common for girls to like those things,” Vargas said. “And that’s why I love working on it, especially in the Girls in STEM club”
A Barbie doll version of Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has blasted off for a weightless flight to inspire girls to consider careers in space and science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) .
Other leaders in this group are already working on their own aspirations.
“I’m studying to be an aerospace engineer,” says Paola Mayoral Jimenez, operations specialist at Columbia Memorial Space Center. “I’m interested in everything related to mathematics, physics, space and that’s why I like to teach this to girls, little girls.”