Approximately 500 middle and high school students from 12 schools across the state filled the Missouri S&T campus for Engineering Day on Feb. 26.

“As one of the nation’s top engineering schools, we enjoy welcoming these students,” says Dr. David Borrok, vice provost and dean of S&T’s College of Engineering and Computing. “We’re glad to offer hands-on activities and live demonstrations that help them learn more about engineering, and how an engineering education can prepare them to help solve some of the world’s most complex challenges.”

The event was hosted by the Kummer Center for STEM Education. It’s part of S&T’s Engineer’s Week, which is a week-long, nationwide celebration that recognizes the impact of engineers while inspiring future generations to explore STEM. 

“We’re celebrating the engineers who come out of this school — many of whom were probably inspired by these hands-on experiences when they were kids themselves,” says Roxanne Hanna, associate director for the Kummer Center for STEM Education.

One of the middle schools visiting for the day was the Swedeborg School District in Richland, Missouri. As of right now, the district only has 45 students in total for the entire K-8 student body. Once students graduate middle school, they enroll in a local high school, usually Waynesville, Richland or Crocker.

“Swedeborg is a very unique school. It’s deep in tradition,” says Mark Sasfy, principal of Swedeborg. “The school is there because the community wants it there.”

Swedeborg’s middle schoolers were able to attend their first Engineering Day at S&T this year. Sasfy says the students’ curiosity in STEM grew more than ever before after just a few hands-on sessions during Engineering Day.

“These kids, able to physically watch, touch and explore, is amazing,” Sasfy says. “We just did the ‘Physics of Motion’ session, and the kids had a blast. I learned a little bit myself.”

“I feel like the students don’t get as many opportunities that the larger schools do,” says Teresa Williams, school nurse for Swedeborg. “For them to be able to come out here and be hands-on, away from their small community and see other schools — the opportunity to come here was awesome today.”

Williams said they even had a few students ask the staff questions about STEM careers.

“They were asking what different degrees you could get at S&T and what kind of education they would need to get to this point, since a lot of them are starting high school,” Williams says.

Swedeborg recently started their annual science fair, and Williams said Engineering Day helped the students come up with ideas for their projects.

“It got them thinking about how to think outside the box,” Williams says. “Where could it go further? How could they use it further in their community? What could they do other than the basic volcano experiment? Today, they saw other options they could try to do.”

Missouri Military Academy (MMA), in Mexico, Missouri, also got to experience S&T’s Engineering Day for the first time. Chris Schafer, an engineering and science instructor at MMA, is an S&T alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering in 1997.

Schafer said that, as an alumnus, bringing his current middle and high school students to Engineering Day was exciting. 

“It’s phenomenal, because I know the foundation that S&T gave me to be very successful,” Schafer says. “MMA is actually my high school alma mater, so I get to bring my high school alma mater back to my college alma mater.”

Schafer says that MMA is all about hands-on learning. 

“Coming to Engineering Day, and allowing them to put hands on things, it speaks directly to how they learn,” he says. “And with the reputation of S&T, I’m always encouraging my students to come to college here.”

Schafer says Engineering Day helps get students different exposure in the STEM field. 

“Each session is totally different from one another,” he says. “And the opportunity for them to come down, work in the department with the teachers and learn from the subject matter experts — it’s an opportunity that you just can’t pass up. It’s too good to be true.”

As of three years ago, 10% of MMA’s graduating seniors enrolled in S&T. 

“Of course, I want them to come to S&T, but I push them into STEM in general,” he says. “Because STEM is where the future is at. Our technology is growing at an exponential rate, and I want our students to be prepared for that.”

Jeremiah Senty, a senior at MMA, plans to study engineering through the U.S. Air Force in aircraft structural maintenance. He said coming to events like Engineering Day is important in order to look at STEM up close.

“Rather than just looking at everything from a distance, you’re actually doing it, which makes it more impactful. It’s a better experience overall,” Senty says. “It makes learning more fun.”

S&T’s STEM Center’s mission is to bring STEM equality across Missouri. Hanna says she is thrilled when she sees Missouri schools visit that don’t get as many STEM opportunities due to location, finances or demographics.

“What you have access to should be equal to everybody,” Hanna says. “That’s our mission. When we get to do that, it really fills our cup in the sense that we get to see what we do make a difference.”

Hanna says reaching the teachers is just as important as the students, especially in small communities where access to new resources and experiences can be limited.

“When you get a teacher excited about sharing these experiences, that excitement carries on to the next class and the next grade,” she says. “Students having educated choices about their future, and us being able to help them with that, means everything to us. Offering them opportunities to see more possibilities and paths by exposing them to something new is hopefully sparking new passions and the curiosity to learn more.”