Guest blogger Terry Samuel, Lexmark vice president of worldwide managed print services operations, serves on the board of Louisville’s Kentucky Science Center (KSC). Below Terry writes about his experience at the most recent KSC Youth Science Summit, held on Lexmark’s campus.
On June 29th, Lexmark was one of the sponsors of the Kentucky Science Center’s (KSC) Youth Science Summit, which took place on our corporate campus here in Lexington. A committee from Lexmark’s “Women at Work” Diversity Network Group led the event, which hosted more than 100 students.
The event (which is geared toward middle and high school students) is a perfect fit for Lexmark, as our philanthropic focus is on diversity and education, specifically science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Giving back to the communities in which we live and work is also a core value, so Lexmark was very excited to host this event.
For the past three years, Lexmark has helped staff an engineering day program at KSC in Louisville as well, which was primarily focused on elementary-aged students. However, Jo Haas, executive director of KSC, has a powerful vision of reimagining the Kentucky Science Center into more of a Commonwealth-wide resource, bringing science to all Kentucky students in fun and engaging ways. To implement her plan, she needed to expand their reach beyond metro Louisville and into central Kentucky. Lexmark strongly supports this effort.
“We so appreciate and value that Lexmark has committed to help us establish a tangible reach into the Lexington area,” said Jo Haas, executive director of KSC. “All Kentucky students deserve to be inspired and motivated by the great work of Kentucky-based STEM companies, and programs like the Youth Science Summit are a perfect way to do just that.”
The day began with an address by former University of Kentucky President Lee Todd, explaining how his love of electronics led him to degrees in electrical engineering and ultimately to starting and selling two companies. He also shared his journey to become U.K.’s president.
Next, the kids traveled from program to program and experienced a broad array of STEM fields. Opportunities included: learning about horse organs, developing and controlling robotic vehicles as well as tours of some of Lexmark’s engineering labs.
In addition, the students rotated across 12 “speed mentor” sessions of eight minutes each, with the chance to ask any question of real STEM professionals (including engineers, chemists, food scientists, architects, programmers and medical professionals).
Finally, the students had the chance to take part in a “Reverse Science Fair” where they were given time to visit booths displaying STEM subjects, touch and feel the displays and ask questions of the professionals.
Our feedback from the student participants was great and we were pleased to see them inspired by all of the STEM offerings. It was very rewarding for our team to watch young minds engaged in STEM activities. I would encourage everyone to get involved to help spark interest and support STEM education for the bright minds of Kentucky’s youth.
To learn more about the Kentucky Science Center, click here.
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