Bring your kids into the tech world with this year’s Maryland STEM Fest

October may be over, but the Maryland STEM Festival isn’t done quite yet.

The annual event, now in its ninth year, featres programming all over Maryland designed for kids and teenagers interested in STEM. Until Nov. 11, kids and families can pick from hundreds of events like talks, lab tours, exhibits, natural experiences and more. This year’s theme is STEM-ertainment, highlighting esports and video games. Organizers expect about 25,000 attendees in total.

Phil Rogofsky, founder and executive director of the festival, said the goal is to help students find an area of STEM they’re passionate about and may consider a career in.

“STEM is obviously the basis for the future and the current world and more and more of the good paying jobs are STEM-based,” Rogofsky told Technical.ly. “And we want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to pursue a STEM job and that it’s not closed off to certain groups, as it kind of has been in the past.”

Festivities started in mid-October, but there are still more events to come. Rogofsky noted that upcoming events include a parade, coding classes, robotics demonstrations, nature walks, musical performances and women in STEM-focused panels. The idea is to present topics in a fun, interesting way to get kids engaged, with different events aimed at different age groups.

Can’t miss sessions include:

• Wednesday, Nov. 1 to Saturday, Nov. 4: A LEGO challenge where students create a piece of work designed around their favorite book, hosted by Chesapeake Family Media in Annapolis.
• Saturday, Nov. 4: A hackathon hosted by Code Ninjas Arundel Mills in Anne Arundel County.
• Thursday, Nov. 9: Students can build a retro arcade game with MakeCode at the Carroll County Public Library.

“Hopefully, students will gain a greater appreciation or greater interest in STEM and they find the area of STEM that, really, they become passionate about and that they can think about as a career, and is something that they want to do for their entire lives,” Rogofsky said. “Something that they can use to make themselves financially secure and financially successful.”