VICKSBURG, Miss. (April 2, 2018) -- As luck would have it, children in the Vicksburg and Jackson areas had the good fortune on St. Patrick’s Day to participate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities at the Mississippi Children’s museum in Jackson, Mississippi. In addition to various STEM activities, there was music, food and fun for all.
The Mississippi Professional Chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers organized the event, “Shamrock Science at the Museum.”
Most SHPE-MS members work for the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. SHPE-MS members who are engineers and scientists from the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory and the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory volunteered for the event.
Approximately 200 children, between the ages of five and 12, along with their parents participated. The event was free and open to the public, as are all SHPE-MS STEM events.
ERDC’s Lyan Garcia, president of SHPE-MS and team lead in organizing the event said, “SHPE-MS annually organizes a STEM event for the community to promote STEM in schools in the Vicksburg and Jackson areas. This year the event theme was centered around St. Patrick’s Day because it was held on St. Patrick’s Day. This is the first time we have held a STEM event at the Mississippi Children’s Museum.”
In addition to SHPE-MS members, several from ERDC were invited and participated as presenters with interactive activities and exhibitions. Some of the highlighted activities included a do-it-yourself LED lights workshop, edible science where the students made their own butter and whipped cream, a scavenger hunt, a build-your-own gummy bear structure activity, 3-D printing and others.
“Shamrock Science at the Museum was a fun filled family day organized to empower the community through STEM education. Our attendees had a great time. We have an amazing group of engineers and all the volunteers worked very hard to make this event a success. It has been one of the most successful SHPE-MS STEM events to date and we could not have done it without the support of ERDC representatives,” Garcia said.