Today, Tyler ISD juniors and seniors from Tyler High and Tyler Legacy participated in the 1st Annual STEM Day at the Rose City Airfest. Students engaged in various hands-on activities, exploring different areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through immersive experiences featuring collaboration with prominent organizations.
The day’s events included rotating through interactive stations, allowing students to learn about cutting-edge technologies and career paths. These stations featured activities such as underwater robotics with the Navy, flight simulators with the Air Force, and a mobile planetarium provided by Discovery Science Place.
Other highlights included rockets with Genesis, lessons on parachutes—including a mock jump demonstration—and discussions about flight medicine with UT Health. Delek also hosted a “Women in Engineering” session, inspiring future generations of female engineers.
“STEM Day is a new initiative where we wanted to get juniors and seniors out to learn more about what makes planes fly – aeronautics and aerobatics,” Travis Gladhill, Executive Director of Camp V, said. “We have everything from helicopters to flight simulators where we can have students concentrate on STEM.”
“I’m really excited about what we’re learning today,” Tyler High senior Ricardo Morales said. “At the Navy station, we got to see how submarines work, including the nuclear reactor inside and the physics behind it. We built our own planes at the airplane station and flew them to see who could go the farthest. Now, I’m headed to the Rocket Launch station, and I can’t wait to dive into the physics and science behind it all!”
After their STEM rotations, students enjoyed lunch while watching airshow performers practice for the following day’s Rose City Airfest. As a special bonus, each participating student received a wristband for free admission to Saturday’s Airfest.
STEM Day provided students with not only educational exposure but also an exciting glimpse into the world of STEM careers, motivating many to explore future opportunities in these fields.
“Camp V sponsored an awesome STEM Day for our students,” CTE Counselor Sarah Jane Walker said. “We have students here from advanced placement chemistry, computer science, engineering, and many other programs we offer at Tyler ISD. We brought them out to get hands-on learning from various community partners who are not just talking to our students but showing them firsthand how physics and engineering really work.”
For more information, contact Jennifer Hines at Jennifer.Hines@TylerISD.org.
About the Airfest:
The fourth annual 2024 Rose City Airfest, to be held on Saturday, October 5, 2024, has quickly become a signature and much-anticipated event in East Texas. Featuring dozens of historic aircraft, the Airfest offers a very diverse lineup of both ground displays and aerial performances by several WWII Warbirds, Russian MiGs, and dozens of other rare and historic aircraft.
All proceeds benefit CampV, a non-profit Veteran’s resource center.