MOSES LAKE — The Apple STEM event at Garden Heights Elementary School Thursday was a little more popular than expected. 

“We haven’t officially counted yet, but we got over 600 parents and students,” said David Estrada, STEM programs manager for the North Central Washington Tech Alliance, which put on the event. The organizers only anticipated about 300, he added.  

The event was the first of three planned for Moses Lake children and their families as a way of getting youngsters excited about science, technology, engineering and math, and maybe one day exploring careers in those fields. Although it was held at Garden Heights, it was paid for by a grant from the Boeing Company, Estrada said; it didn’t cost the Moses Lake School District anything. Volunteers from a number of tech-related companies in the area, including Boeing, Sila Nanotechnologies, Twelve and Group14. Hot dogs – dubbed “space dogs” for the evening – were served up inside and JR Simplot sent its french fry trailer to offer “shooting stars” outside. Fortunately, the organizers had ordered twice as many hot dogs as they thought they were going to need, so they didn’t run out despite the overwhelming attendance. 

Justin Morigeau, president of AeroTec in Moses Lake, kicked off the evening in the gym in an astronaut suit and a western hat, introduced as the Aerospace Cowboy.  

“I love STEM,” Morigeau said. “We didn't have STEM back in my day, but we had (TV programs) that did the same thing, that introduced us to science and math and technology and engineering. And guess what? I wasn't really good at any of those, but as I learned through those programs I (gained) a lot.”  

Morigeau named off one career after another and challenged the children to tell him if it pertained to science, technology, engineering or math. A farmer uses science in analyzing soil chemistry, they told him, and a worker building a house uses engineering; a mechanic repairing a plane uses all four. 

Once the introduction was finished, the crowds dispersed into carious rooms around the school that had been turned into tech labs with hands-on learning about hydraulics, gravity, potential and kinetic energy, virtual reality and aviation.  

The virtual reality was a popular exhibit, using three headsets brought in by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin.  

“They're all focused on career and workforce readiness,” said Boys & Girls Club Director of Operations Cecily Hendricks. “There are simulations of different types of careers kids can try out. There's like a construction module, there is nursing where you can actually learn how to do a knee surgery, robotics, welding, everything.” 

To an outside observer, 10-year-old Sabastian Evans appeared to be looking around and moving his hands at random, but what he was doing inside the headset was trying his hand at surgery. 

“It was about a person who didn’t want to walk in pain anymore,” Sabastian said. “So we had to saw a bit of the leg out, and then we had to make the knee the right size.”

“Elementary is a really important age for students to have that awareness and exposure to all kinds of industries,” said NCW Tech Alliance CEO Sue Kane. “(Before) they start to eliminate (options). They might know what they want to do with their future, but they’ll start to say ‘I don’t know if that’s for me’ really early. So this is an opportunity to explore it.” 

The fact that Moses Lake is home to so many cutting-edge companies in aerospace and technical fields makes it important to expose children to career possibilities in their hometown and get them excited about the future of science, said Garden Heights Principal Michelle Johnstone. 

“We see planes going over us every day out on the playground,” Johnstone said. “And even my teachers are learning more about (aerospace) … There's so much more to it when you talk about taking things apart, putting things back together, and the different people that are all involved along the way. And so we would love for kids to be able to see themselves in this space, and to see what's out there for possibilities.” 

There are two more events planned, one at Garden Heights Feb. 27 and the other at AeroTec on April 3. They’re open to all children and their families at no charge, and dinner will be provided. 

“Having this come in is huge,” Morigeau said. “(Children) may not realize they actually are either good at or want to do this kind of stuff, and a lot of them aren't exposed to the stuff that we're doing in this community around technology development, around science, around the high level of engineering. They don't realize that that's happening in their backyard.” 

    Ten-year-old Levi Roark learns about potential and kinetic energy by rolling a metal ball through an electromagnet at the NCW Tech Alliance STEM night Thursday.
  

    Hunter Ketterer, 4, pushes water into a hydraulic tube to raise a wooden crane at the NCW Tech Alliance STEM event at Garden Heights Elementary School on Thursday.
  

    AeroTec President Justin Morigeau, the Aerospace Cowboy, challenges students at the NCW Tech Alliance STEM event to decide which careers involve science, technology, engineering or math.