The World at Your Fingertips
Rocky Mountain STEAM Fest gives attendees the chance to learn by playing
SparkFun was proud to sponsor MakerBolder’s third annual Rocky Mountain STEAM Fest on April 29–30, donating the SparkFun Inventor’s Kit, LilyPad Sewable Electronics Kit and Digital Sandbox.
More than 4,400 STEAM Fest participants had over a hundred activities at their fingertips, including art, engineering with cardboard, operating sheet metal machinery, solving math problems, building ships, and robot design and construction. MakerBolder, a nonprofit organization based in Boulder, CO, created the event because they believed there were too few opportunities for people to not only see new things, but actually roll up their sleeves and do new things.
“The Rocky Mountain STEAM Fest is designed to encourage people of all ages to have an experience of something they’ve never done before,” said Anne Fellini, one of the event’s producers. “Whether that’s creating your own flavor of bubbly water, or planting a bean seed – or battling robots and flying drones – everyone that comes here will find something new to do.”
MakerBolder hosts events throughout the year ranging from “Robots, Pizza and Beer” to “Meet a Maker” and “Girls Explore” workshops. These events aim to broaden exposure to career opportunities for people of all ages.
“We believe that people won’t choose careers that they know nothing about, or that they don’t believe they can master,” Fellini explained. “When people can have an experience of a STEM/STEAM activity, and perhaps meet someone that is like them, and who is already successful in a STEM career, they are more likely to open the door to that possibility for themselves.”
