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The Â鶹ÊÓƵ College of Engineering hosted its annual STEM Teacher Workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 10, for K-12 educators. Attendees participated in hands-on activities, learned from professors about problem solving in the world of STEM, and discovered  more about what the College of Engineering has to offer.

“It is our role and responsibility to equip our educators with the tools, resources, and knowledge to guide their students to an engineering pathway and engage the next generation of STEM leaders,” Bayleigh Smith, associate director of marketing and recruitment at the College of Engineering said. “My hope is that through this one-day workshop each teacher took away something they can implement into their classroom to do just that.”

The teachers who attended were able to hear from a variety of speakers, including the dean of the College of Engineering Dr. Brian Craig, and chemical engineering department chair Dr. Tracy Benson and interim civil engineering department chair Dr. Nicholas Brake.

“At the STEM Teacher Workshop, I gave an engaging demonstration related to carbon capture and storage, using dry ice in a reverse titration experiment,” Dr. Benson said. “Watching the color change from pinkish red to clear, was a ‘clear’ indication of the reaction that occurred before our very eyes. This type of experiment gets students excited about chemical engineering and all the wonderful careers they can pursue.”

Teachers had the opportunity to hear from College of Engineering students, as they shared their experience as a student at Lamar. Students from the Robotic Cardinals organization also discussed their involvement with local high schools through the VEX robotics program.

“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to share about robotics programs, engineering in education, and some of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ College of Engineering student initiatives with STEM educators in our area,” Bobby Barton, vice president of  Robotic Cardinals said. “There are many students at Lamar who are passionate about giving back to their community and hope to inspire the next generation of engineers by mentoring and volunteering at local robotics programs in local schools. We are excited about the growth of these robotics programs and engineering education in our community and look forward to helping more local schools start and grow their programs.” 

“It was so fun for me to have an opportunity to come back to campus and see how much [Lamar] has grown and changed since my time there,” Hope Etheridge, middle school technology education teacher at Hardin-Jefferson and Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumna said. “I cannot wait to hear from the College of Engineering regarding the ways they hope to engage and equip my students for their future career goals.”

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