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Boces Launches Inaugural Regional STEM Fest For Middle Schoolers

VALHALLA, N.Y. -- Southern Westchester BOCES will be hosting the area’s first STEM Festival featuring work by middle-school students from all around the county.

Students at Southern Westchester BOCES participate in a recent STEM day. BOCES is hosting the first regional STEM festival for middle-school students this Saturday, March 5, in Valhalla.

Students at Southern Westchester BOCES participate in a recent STEM day. BOCES is hosting the first regional STEM festival for middle-school students this Saturday, March 5, in Valhalla.

Photo Credit: Southern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

Expected to participate are representatives from Putnam Valley, Scarsdale, Ossining, Briarcliff Manor and Blind Brook schools.

The festival is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Southern Westchester BOCES Center for Career Services, 65 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, next door to Westchester Community College.

Fifth- through eighth-graders will display science projects that will be judged by college and high school students, teachers and professors.

Participants in the noncompetitive event will receive feedback and recognition for their projects.

According to BOCES, President Barrack Obama has made improvements in STEM education a priority, and the state Labor Department says there are more job openings in the United States requiring STEM-related skills than there are people to fill them.

The students will not only get the chance to celebrate their passion for learning, organizers said, they will get to explore exhibits, share amazing STEM-related projects and ideas with others, and learn more about what a possible career in STEM might be like.

The topics projects will be based on include: engineering, inventing, designing and conducting experiments, and building robots.

Organizations and people signed up for the fest include: the Watershed Agriculture Council, the Wolf Conservation Center, Think STEAM, New NY Bridge Project, Teatown Lake Reservation, Blind Brook Robotics, SUNY Maritime College, Mark Samis, and Makers Empire 3D Printing Learning Program.

BOCES career programs will be also be represented, including pre-engineering, architecture and interior design, cosmetology, TV/video production and auto body.

For more information, go to. https://sites.google.com/site/regionalstemfestival/home.

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