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Article submitted by Russ Matthys, APWA-MN Chapter President and Public Awareness Committee Member

Chapter members recently participated in a number of STEM outreach opportunities both in the metro and outstate. Events entitled Creativity Festival, CreativeCon and Science Fest brought together 2500+ students interested in STEM. The outreach for APWA-MN was significant as we had four volunteer groups each interact with 75-100 students (total of 300-400 future public works professionals or supporters). We had seven female members and five male members participate, demonstrating diversity in public works along with the STEM theme.

Participating students’ comments:

• It was interesting and informative.
• I learned a lot of things I did not know.
• We learned about how roads are made.
• We were able to do something fun that related to real life.
• I liked learning about engineering and roads.
• Good to see application; real careers.
• I love engineering.

Program coordinator (2 of 3 events) comments: Adults (and students) really appreciated the connection to real-world jobs that your sessions offered. Many kids commented on how they liked doing something related to real life. The APWA-MN engineers did a great job sharing their enthusiasm for their work and the many ways they solve problems on a daily basis. Very impressive. I especially was impressed with the fact that there were 9 different APWA-MN engineers involved and almost half were women (4/9). Great job getting more and more participation by your members.