SAN MARCOS CISD
Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math are all critical and lucrative career fields that could be a viable option of pursuit for any student. San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District’s Career and Technical Education program in partnership with the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce are bringing the annual STEAM fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday to San Marcos High School, located at 2601 Rattler Road.
“I would just encourage people to get there early because … it’s a three hour event,” SMCISD CTE and Federal Programs Director CJ Odam said. “Oftentimes, if you want to see it all and play with all the exhibits, it can take right at three hours to do it. So make sure you make time to get there and experience it all.”
The STEAM fair is an opportunity to showcase all of the science, technology, engineering, art and math going on around SMCISD as well as all of its community partners.
“It’s an opportunity for kids of all ages to come out, have some interactive events that they can play and engage with, see different campuses, see what the high school CTE programs are like, hear musical performances and see artwork from fine arts departments across the district,” Odam said. “Then, of course, [it’s an opportunity for kids to] see those businesses and industries that are also involved. So it’s a chance for kids to … find out about some opportunities for them in the future to work in the fields related to STEAM.”
Sponsors for this year include CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital-San Marcos, Rosendin, CFAN, Chick-fil-A, A+ Federal Credit Union, United Way of Hays & Caldwell Counties, AirOne Rescue, City Limits Subaru, myDental and US Aviation Academy. These community business sponsors as well as many others will be on site, letting kids imagine various future career paths.
“A long time sponsor of ours is CFan; they bring some really great material to show kids how they make the fan blades out at CFan, and the kids get to interact with those and see what all they’re doing there,” Odam said. “There’s a number of city and county officials that come out: the fire trucks, EMS, public works, some things like that. We also have an exhibit from a group called Once in a Wild; it’s an animal exhibit that we’ll have inside. The Meadows Center is there describing what they do for the environment. Texas State has representatives from Mathworks.”
According to a press release issued by the San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce, the fair will include over 50 exhibitors total from SMCISD courses, local businesses and organizations. Each will offer interactive exhibits that are meant to cultivate curiosity and inspire future innovators.
“The STEAM Fair is a unique opportunity for students to discover careers in STEAM fields while having fun,” said Page Michel, San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce president. “The Chamber is proud to bring together local businesses, educators and community members to create an exciting and engaging environment that fosters learning and creativity.”
Odam said the fair is one of the “marquee events” of the year for SMCISD, and people won’t want to miss it.
“In the last several years, we’ve had over 2,000 people attend,” Odam said. “There is a scavenger hunt, so there’s prizes for the kids.”
Learn more at steamsmtx. com.
