Academy hosts space-focused STEM forum

  • Published
  • By Tech Sgt Zach Vaughn
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications

Airmen, Guardians and Faculty hosted a STEMtoSpace” event here for elementary school students from the Colorado Springs region, Dec. 15-16.

Service members and civilians lead the “STEMtoSpace” program to engage with schools across the U.S. throughout the month of December.

“This year, Colorado has the most classrooms involved nationwide in the STEMtoSpace campaign,” said Sandy Lamb, Academy STEM coordinator. “These two days were a wonderful collaboration between the Space Force, Space Foundation, local elementary schools and the Academy.”

The outreach introduced more than 600 children to the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics along with the skills they’ll need to solve future problems. The students learned about constellations, gravity, the weather system, robotics and other STEM-related topics.

“Anyone can be a part of the STEM community,” said Lamb. “We need competent STEM students who can think critically for future national and global demands that will create jobs that don’t exist today. We will need people to successfully fill those roles.”

Guardians also highlighted the U.S. Space Forces contribution to national security and everyday life in the U.S through a question and answer session.

It was important, especially with us being a newer branch, for them to understand the role that we play and how important satellites are to what we do as a nation,” said U.S. Space Force Master Sgt. Evelyn Hernandez, Flight Chief, 4th Space Operations Squadron, Schriever Space Force Base, Colo. “It’s also important for them to be able to get a glimpse of what their education can do for them and what they can experience by exploring STEM.”

Air Force Academy faculty and cadets work with the local community, schools, and teachers to increase the effectiveness of the Air Force and Space Forces investment in STEM.

To learn more about these efforts, visit: https://www.usafa.edu/research/stem-outreach/.