TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Independent School District is inviting the community to get a first-hand look at the district’s STEM programs in action with an upcoming special event. TISD will be hosting its fourth annual Spring Into STEM event at the Temple ISD Administration Building (401 West Avenue A, Temple, Texas 76501) on Saturday, April 11th, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The event moved indoors from the Santa Fe Plaza due to concerns about the weather.
The Spring Into STEM event is free and open to the public and will feature over 20 booths or stations with a variety of STEM related activities. This year’s theme is “Igniting Innovation” as focuses on finding projects and devices that inspire a love of STEM in students. There will be one area focused on hands-on stations including robotics, virtual reality, and coding. Other stations will include LEGO Education, SAM Labs, and elementary school robotics clubs featuring Sphero and Strawbees activities. There will also be an area focused on “outdoorsy” type activities such as Active Floor, Wildthings Zoofari, Play-Doh garden, and Rug Alive. district will also showcase its STEM Drone Arena. Spring Into STEM will also give parents an opportunity to get a glimpse at the programs and opportunities available district wide. Community partners will also be on hand to highlight career connections and build on links between career and community partners. Read aloud stations will also include book giveaways and there will be make-and-take projects that will provide opportunities for families to take learning experiences home. There will be stations geared to students of all ages from pre-K through 12th grade and Temple ISD staff will also be sharing information on other upcoming district STEM opportunities. The TISD Digital Learning Department is also partnering with the district’s Bilingual/ESL Department for several stations during the event.
“I want families to explore with their students and find the things that they enjoy. I want them to find out what ignites their innovative side and share that back with us as feedback,” said Ashley Jones, director of digital learning for Temple ISD. “We are trying to provide opportunities that connect with our community, like real-world opportunities and workforce opportunities. We want to be able to continue what we are doing, but also to expand on the things we are doing as a district. I am hoping that families find things that are exciting for their students that connect with the community, but also share that feedback with us so that we can continue to grow our programs to really benefit our students, not just in school, but at home, as well.”
The Spring Into STEM event will also feature Temple Public Library’s Bookmobile, STARS & Science Austin’s mobile Planetarium, the Metaverse Bus with enhanced VR opportunities, a LEGO themed bounce house, and other booths featuring other community partners. This year’s event will also feature free t-shirts for the first 50 in attendance. There will also be a local food truck on hand serving food and galaxy related drinks during the event.