16th annual STEMtastic Day in Fort Myers looks to inspire future innovators

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

The Calusa Sound Convention Center in Fort Myers was the site of the 16th annual STEMtastic Day, where students showcased their love of STEM through hands-on activities and robotics demonstrations.

Jacob Burns, a member of the Jennison Knights First Tech Challenge team, has found a passion for building robots from start to finish, which has kept him engaged in the FTC team. "So I have learned more than I ever thought I would. And so that's why I'm staying in FTC," Burns said.

Burns joined the team after discovering the opportunity to build robots, which has been an interest of his for quite some time. "So robots of interest to me for quite a while. And this is a great way of actually exercising that like a robot, because I get a build code program, I drive these bots, and it presents a lot of challenges and issues that you get to overcome and solve, and it's a great way to be in the STEM community," he said.

He showcased his robot's capabilities at the Calusa Sound Convention Center during STEMtastic Day, an event sponsored by the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools. The event featured a variety of hands-on activities aimed at promoting STEM education.

Marshal Bower, from the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, explained the significance of the event.

"It's actually our 16th annual one where we bring together vendors from the community, mostly from the schools and the businesses that are involved with us, to get students to understand how important science, technology, engineering and math is, both in their studies and then in their careers that they're going to pick so hands on kinds of things to do all day long," Bower said.

Students from different middle and high schools across the Gulf Coast participated, demonstrating their enthusiasm for STEM. Burns emphasized the importance of early involvement in STEM fields.

"STEM is the future. If obviously technology is evolving. This is a great way of learning tons of life skills. I mean, when you go to the tournaments, you learn different core values. When you actually build the robot, you learn a ton about technology," he said.

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