This past week I spent a couple days focusing all my energies on the 10th annual Science & Technology Education Partnership (STEP10) Conference in Riverside. Some 3,000 4th through 8th grade students from throughout the Inland area attended the two-day event held at Riverside Convention Center.
The program included the Oh! Zone demonstration stage show sponsored by General Atomics with a grant from the Department of Energy, a hands on Discovery Zone with countless trade show-like opportunities and even an appearance by Apollo 11 Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin who 40 years ago walked on the moon. I’ve been so caught up in the conference I didn’t even realize the NLCS had started in Los Angeles with home field advantage going to the Dodgers!
The result was a content-rich environment for pictures of children enthusiastically engaged in all kinds of activities, from playing with plasma balls and building rockets to experiencing flight simulators and taking infrared images of themselves using the latest forward-looking Infrared (FLIR) technology.
A boy in sixth grade discovered what a hair-raising experience placing his hands on a Van de Graaf generator can be. A group of fourth grade girls giggled uncontrollably as a prototype of an eight-wheeled Mars Rover rolled over their bodies while they spread out on the floor side-by-side.
The event culminated with a luncheon and Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Corona Division receiving the first STEP Award for Government Leadership in Science and Technology Education, in recognition of their continuous participation in the event since its inception, and reaching some 40,000 Inland area students over the past ten years.
You can read more about the STEP10 Conference here and NSWC Corona’s award here.
