Connect2STEM Drive-Through Event Cruises to Success
A costumed dinosaur character brought science to life for visitors attending an innovative drive-through Connect2STEM event in Phoenix on Saturday, May 22, 2021.
A Connect2STEM drive-through event celebrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine was a new take on a popular event held by the University of Arizona Health Sciences and College of Medicine – Phoenix.
This year’s event was designed to observe COVID-19 safety protocols while still providing a learning opportunity for attendees. Typically, the event is an outdoor, hands-on experience that brings thousands of kids and their families to the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. Connect2STEM has welcomed more than 40,000 attendees over the last six years, becoming the largest STEM community event in Phoenix.
The drive-through event, which took place on May 22, featured 30 STEM-related exhibits. Attendees experienced each exhibit station as they drove through different levels of the parking garage. The event was presented by UArizona Health Sciences and partners Cox Communications and the Arizona SciTech Institute. Exhibitors included the College of Medicine – Phoenix, UArizona Cancer Center, Cooperative Extension, All of Us Research Program and Near to You Network.
The event reached maximum attendance, reflecting the commitment of volunteers, sponsors and participating vendors who collaborated to ensure kids and families could make a connection to people working in STEM fields.
The event was sponsored by Banner Health, APS Palo Verde, the Be Kind Project, DPR Sundt, Dispatch Health, City of Phoenix Public Works, Arizona Center, Basis.Ed, the Boyer Company, Radiall and Standard Parking.
Volunteers and University of Arizona Health Sciences staff stand ready to open the 2021 Connect2STEM drive-through event at the Phoenix Biomedical Campus parking garage.
The Girls Innovation Academy caught the attention of these STEM enthusiasts as they took pictures of the innovations on display. The school aims to inspire a pathway to science, technology and engineering.
Students from the College of Medicine – Phoenix visit with kids as their parents slowly drove by the Wildcat Play Hospital, run by the Black African American Caribbean Employee Resource Group.
Arizona SciTech Institute’s Chief Operating Officer, Kelly Greene, records a message during the Connect2STEM event that her organization sponsored along with UArizona Health Sciences and Cox Communications.
College of Medicine – Phoenix students Jennifer Codd and Erik Garber demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver, how to help someone who is choking.
Visitors to the Connect2STEM drive-through event show Taben Hale, PhD, associate professor, basic medical sciences and clinical translational sciences at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, and other volunteers how grateful they were for the free family-friendly event.
Doshia Davis, left, and Cy’Myah Murphy, keep a close eye on a nosey T-Rex as they begin the Connect2STEM drive-through event.
Wilbur and Wilma contemplate whether a T-Rex would rather eat a Wildcat or a Sun Devil at the entrance to the Connect2STEM drive-through event.
Wilbur and Wilma take a moment to thank UArizona Health Sciences Corporate and Community Relations team members, from left, Caroline Berger, Annemarie Medina and Allison Otu, for organizing the Connect2STEM event.
Mark Strickling, discovery officer specialist at the University of Arizona Foundation, and his daughter Semia worked together to set up the Wildcat Play Hospital, run by the Black African American Caribbean Employee Resource Group.
Staff from the All of Us Research Program give a thumbs up to a carload of visitors to demonstrate how “hitchhiker’s thumb” is an example of an inherited genetic trait.
STEM met slime at the last stop of the Connect2STEM event with the Arizona Ghostbusters, a non-profit that supports Phoenix-area charity events.