FAIRMONT – The NASA Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Program’s Educators Resource Center kicked off its annual Kids Day in the Park event Monday, which went virtual this year to engage area students in STEM education even in the midst of a pandemic.
The Day in the Park event is usually held at the IV&V Facility, located in the I-79 Technology Park, but adjustments had to be made due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. So this year, all the presentations from experts, activities and keynote speakers are available to stream online at https://sites.google.com/view/2020-dayinthepark/home.
“We not only hope to continue to inspire students with the free, live online sessions performed by local STEM professionals, but also engage them during these sessions through at-home STEM activities provided on the Kids Day in the Park website,” IV&V Education Specialist Josh Revels said. “Each activity has been selected to help prepare students for a future in the fun STEM careers in the region.”
The event is usually geared toward area middle school students, but the new virtual format brings the benefit of opening up the educational opportunity to any students interested.
Monday included sessions on aeronautics and aviation in the morning and space science in the afternoon, and Revels said it was a great beginning to this newly modified event.
“The first day of the inaugural Virtual Kids Day in the Park event was a huge success. Already we’ve received 520 viewers, which is a significant expansion of the impact made in previous in-person events,” he said. “The event is expected to have new viewers joining us on Wednesday for the Robotics and Computer Science sessions and Friday during the Energy and Climate sessions.”
There will be half-day sessions continuing Wednesday and Friday. Sessions will go from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. A full schedule is available on the event’s website. https://sites.google.com/view/2020-dayinthepark/home.
Anyone interested is encouraged to log in and take part in the upcoming sessions.
For the media: We encourage media personnel to log in and view the livestream for the full experience and to take screenshots for artwork. For interviews or more information, please contact: Clarissa R. Cottrill, Jr. Communications Specialist. Clarissa.r.cottrill@nasa.gov.