Well maybe I am doing a bit of self-proclaiming in the headline, but this is some self-proclaiming that we can back up in Marshalltown!

It was very exciting earlier this week to be at the high school and see the youngsters begin to come in with their parents for the first day of a week-long STEM Camp.

This was a pre-engineering STEM camp that was developed by the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering – a pre-engineering STEM camp that was conducted with the assistance of Iowa State University, and that came together with the support of the Marshalltown School District, including the assistance and tutelage of MHS Teachers Erica Malloy, Mike Lazere and Scott Smith; and the Marshalltown Regional Partnership.

This was a pre-engineering STEM Camp that had about 120 student participants – kids in grades K-7. It was a pre-engineering STEM Camp that was all made possible because of the financial support of the Don and Sue Turbiville Estate, the Verle Hunt Estate, Emerson-Fisher, and Marshalltown High School’s Project Lead the Way. And it was a pre-engineering STEM camp, a first of its kind that had the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering taking their show on the road to Marshalltown!

I wish you could have been there with me as I watched kids walk through the doors of Marshalltown High School with anxious smiles on their faces and to begin to hear their parents talk about how excited their children were to be able to learn to build robots and work with LEGOs, etc. All of this here in Marshalltown, “the most innovative City in the United States” as Emerson-Fisher’s Paul Gregoire boasts.

When STEM is talked about in the state of Iowa, invariably Marshalltown becomes a part of the conversation, because Marshalltown is seen as and known as being a leader in STEM education throughout our entire state.

Yes, here in Marshalltown we are at the epicenter of the STEM World. Si Se Puede, Yes We Can in Marshalltown!

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David Barajas is CEO of Marshalltown Regional Partnership.