SANDY, Utah — STEM: it's everywhere around us, and Brody Rowe is intrigued by all of it. The 10-year-old goes to Beehive Science and Technology Academy.
“Photosynthesis — we're working on that right now, and it's really cool to see how plants grow and everything," Brody explained.
“It's a STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] school. It kind of fosters their creativity and just to feel that all these possibilities are out here, especially for science and technology," his mom Rikki added.
Tuesday morning, Brody and his classmates got the opportunity to visit the Utah STEM Fest.
"Back in the day, people didn't even know how diamonds were made, but now they just know how to compact them and make them like that," Brody said.
Over Tuesday and Wednesday, 8,000 students from across the state will enter the Mountain America Expo Center doors. They'll find more than 50 STEM-related interactive booths with employees from places like U.S. Synthetic, Rocky Mountain Power, Utah Valley University, Enbridge, and more.
"This provides the opportunity for the kids to get out of the classroom and meet professionals that are doing the jobs with the skills they're learning in class," said Tami Goetz, the director of the Utah STEM Action Center.
This year marks the 10th Annual Utah STEM Fest, and Goetz says it's starting to come full circle.
"The last couple of years, I've had volunteers at booths for the universities that are college students now or working with a company come up to me and say, 'You know, I came to your first or second STEM fest and it changed my life,'" Goetz said.
After his exciting day at the STEM Fest, Brody might say the same in another 10 years.
"I think I want to be a roboticist," Brody said. "I want to build robots."
The Utah STEM Fest is hosting a free family night on Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mountain America Expo Center.
