STEAM Festival to Bring Hands-On Learning to Cedar City

The second annual southern Utah STEAM Festival will be held October 28 - 29 on the Southern Utah University campus. The two-day festival presents hands-on science, technology, engineering, art and math learning for children of all ages.

On Friday, October 28, grade school students from across southern Utah will convene by invitation at the Hunter Conference Center at SUU. Then, on Friday evening and again on Saturday, the event will open to the general public at no charge. Sponsored by Southern Utah University, the STEM Action Center, the Governor's office of Economic Development, and Cedar City Library in the Park, the festival incorporates experiential learning and interdisciplinary projects to help make STEAM education exciting for students from elementary up to university levels.

"Our first STEAM festival, held early last spring, was a tremendous success," said William Heyborne, director of the SUU Center for STEM Teaching and Learning. "We had nearly 2,400 people participate in the two-day festival."

The hope is to take this early success and build the program into an annual STEAM Festival comparable to those held along the Wasatch Front. The organizers report that over 1,900 students from three southern Utah counties have already signed up to attend on Friday morning. Space still exists for additional school groups to join in the fun. Teachers interested in bringing their classes may reserve a space by emailing wmgcoseevents@suu.edu.

On Friday, October 28, the event will host school visits from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm and will be open to the general public that evening from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. On Saturday, October 29, public hours will be from noon - 4:00 pm. The event will be held in the Great Hall of the Hunter Conference Center on the SUU campus.

Confirmed educational partners include the Garth and Jerri Frehner Museum of Natural History, the Leonardo - from Salt Lake City, Cedar Breaks National Monument, the Cedar Mountain Science Center and artsFUSION.

Currently, the organizing committee is seeking additional educational partners as well as event sponsors. If your business or organization would like to organize and present a booth with interactive activities, contact Laurel Dodgion at laureldodgion@suu.edu. If you would like to be a financial supporter of this event, contact William Heyborne at williamheyborne@suu.edu.

Southern Utah University (1897) evolved from a teacher training institution to Utah's designated public liberal arts and sciences university, offering over 140 undergraduate programs and ten master's degrees. With world class project based learning, unique undergraduate research opportunities, and a personalized learning environment (18:1) students lead projects mentored by professors. True to the University's core vision, SUU faculty, staff and administrators enable students to honor thought in all its finest forms, achieve excellence in their chosen field, and create positive change in the world.

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