STEM Action Center hopes to raise money on Idaho Gives Day

STEM Action Center Foundation officials have set a fundraising goal of $10,000 for Thursday’s Idaho Gives Day.

Tony Harrison, a public relations professional working with the STEM Action Center, said meeting that goal will allow the center to pay for 700 STEM engagements via camps, competitions, instruction, learning materials and professional mentorship.

“STEM knowledge and skills are important to the future of Idaho, because they’re needed for critical and creative thinking, problem solving, innovation and collaboration,” Harrison wrote in a news release.

Treasure Valley area residents will have two opportunities to donate to the STEM Action Center Foundation Thursday.

First up is the Idaho Gives Day kickoff event, the start strong breakfast, from 8 to 10 a.m. at Even Stevens Sandwiches, 815 W. Bannock St.
Next is the Change For Change event from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Boise Co-Op, 888 W. Fort St. The STEM Action Center Foundation is one beneficiary of the Co-Op program, which allows customers to who bring their own, reusable shopping bags to make a small donation to a beneficiary. During the event, family-oriented STEM activities will be available, door prizes will be awarded and donations will be accepted. The STEM Action Center Foundation is a featured beneficiary for Co-Op program for April through June.

Now in its sixth year, Idaho Gives Day is an initiative of the Idaho Nonprofit Center. For the daylong event, Idahoans will join together to raise money and awareness for more than 500 nonprofit beneficiaries.

The Legislature and former Gov. Butch Otter formed the STEM Action Center in 2015 because Idahoans were not entering the STEM pipeline fast enough to meet workforce demands. The STEM Action Center focuses on the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math. The STEM Action Center Foundation launched in 2017 to raise funds for STEM programming to benefit Idaho students, teachers and communities.

More information about the STEM Action Center is available online.

Boise State University athletes to participate in STEM day

The STEM Action Center is partnering with Boise State University athletes and Idaho National Laboratory for a day of STEM activities Friday.

Members of Boise State’s football, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer volleyball, golf and cheer teams will work with more than 250 area elementary school students during STEM Day on the Blue.

During the event, Boise State athletes will help elementary students assemble and launch water rockets, create electronic projects with Snap Circuit modules, experiment with light using lasers and prisms and complete structural design challenges.

Schools scheduled to participate include Adams, Longfellow, Garfield and Basin elementary schools.

Due to field renovations, the activities won’t actually take place on the famous blue turf at Albertsons Stadium. Instead, the event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the nearby Caven-Williams Sports Complex.