In August, during the La Plata County Fair, LPEA joined forces with the CSU Extension Office’s 4-H Youth Development program to host STEM activities. We had great participation, which allowed students to explore the world of electricity by building their own electric robots, creating circuits using playdough, and mapping circuits on a board.

Through this partnership, LPEA achieved our goal to positively impact our community by being a trusted community partner and preparing for our future by investing in the next generation of workers. An additional goal was to create a deeper impact with experiences that had lasting impressions. We sought to expand on 4-H’s goal of creating access to opportunities for young people by exposing them to STEM activities at no cost.

We witnessed many ‘spark’ moments with every student that participated in our offerings. While our target age range was 8 to 12-year-olds, we had a participant as young as 2 create a circuit, with older teenagers making electric robots. The encouragement from their 4-H peers was wonderful to witness, and the excitement among all ages was infectious. There were parents and grandparents getting involved, as it was too hard not to be enticed by the joy of seeing young people discover how to make the robots work and create their own electricity through the circuits.