October 27, 2020
Early in March of 2020, Jeni Peterson, Education and Innovation Center coordinator at Mayville State University, and center director Andi Dulski-Bucholz were working with faculty, staff, and students to get the final touches completed for their annual STEM carnival which had been scheduled for April 13. In mid-March, things changed due to COVID-19, and it was determined that the STEM carnival had to be postponed.
Organizers hoped that by fall conditions would allow them to reschedule the STEM carnival, and people could come to campus and experience all the engaging and fun hands-on STEM activities. Unfortunately, that was not the outcome.
“We remained hopeful that we would be able to deliver a quality STEM carnival at Mayville State for the surrounding communities,” said Jeni Peterson. “As the pandemic progressed, we began brainstorming ways to reach just as many area students as we have in the past. With a virtual platform, I feel as though we can raise those expectations and reach out to students across the state.”
Mayville State University will offer a virtual STEM carnival in lieu of an in-person event. The website will be launched on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
This event is partially funded by a $6,000 K-12 STEM Outreach award that Dulski-Bucholz and Peterson received from ND EPSCoR in fall 2019. Because of this past spring's unprecedented circumstances, many awards were extended to allow recipients to complete their proposed activities, events, and research.
"These unique circumstances are allowing Mayville State University students and faculty to share educational activities that will actually bring further outreach of the funded activities to students and teachers through the virtual platform,” said Andi Dulski-Bucholz.
If you are interested in sharing a presentation for the STEM Carnival, contact Jeni Peterson at jeni.peterson@mayvillestate.edu for more information.