ERIE — Dozens of homeschool students across southeast Kansas gathered at the Neosho County Event Center for a day of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.
According to K-State Research and Extension’s Southwind District Director Krista Harding, the STEM Discovery Day event took several months to plan and hosted 135 students and their caregivers throughout the day.
“Most of these programs are the ones that we’ve taken to the public school, so many don’t have the opportunity to see these because they are homeschooled, but we want to offer our programs to homeschooled students as well,” Harding said. “We decided to just make a day of it.”
Harding said the event was also planned with the Wildcat District and Cherokee County. The event served students from across these areas as well. Harding said she was surprised by how many cities across the region students named when asked for their hometowns.
“The kids seem really engaged,” Social Media and Program Marketing Coordinator Andrea Hilyard said.
Harding highlighted that many of the students who attended were generally not students who participated in local 4-H clubs.
“We’re definitely happy with the response we received. It was our first time offering it; we didn’t really know what to expect,” Harding said.
For homeschool families, there are several benefits to attending such an event.
“We thought it would be a really fun way to learn some science,” Ashley Fryer, a local mother, said. She brought her fourth-grade daughter, Faith.
“It’s been a blast. There’s been a really big variety between ag, physical science, engineering and problem solving,” Fryer said. “There is value in having the ability to do something outside of the home school classroom, that we may not have the knowledge or resources for.”
Fryer said that the stations progressed smoothly, and that all of the Research and Extension agents were knowledgeable, and kept the children’s attention well during the sessions.
For other families, it was a way for children to interact with other youth their own age. Haley Pritchard, who attended with her daughter, Dotti, and Laura Simmons, who attended with her daughter, Holley, said it was a good opportunity for socialization.
“We came to find new friends and enjoy a day of free education,” Pritchard said.
Many activities were handson, such as students learning how plant pollination works by using cheese puffs. Under the guidance of Agent Cheri Walrod, students dug in buckets of cheese puffs to find “nectar” which was represented by erasers. The cheese powder stuck to students, and the “nectar” like pollen. Students also drew flowers on paper towels, which mimicked how pollinators spread pollen as students wiped their hands clean of the cheese powder.
Breakout Boxes were designed to strengthen problem solving skills, according to Agent Amanda Clasen. Students must solve five clues to unlock various locking mechanisms.
Clasen said students have to use basic math skills, team work, and problem-solving skills.
Other sessions included: robotics, chick embryology, cloud formation, earthworms, making smoothies with the blender bike, and glowing germs. High school-aged students participated in lessons on: the cow reproductive tract, grains, DNA extraction, honey bees, a lesson titled “Feeding Frenzy,” and plant grafting.
To learn more about the Southwind District K-State Research and Extension Office, visit https://www.southwind. k-state.edu. For the Wildcat District, visit https://www. wildcatdistrict.k-state.edu.
