Eighth annual Gila Valley Health and S.T.E.A.M. Festival coming to EAC

Contributed Photo/Courtesy EAC: Trooper Braden McBride explains firearm safety to attendees at the 2020 Gila Valley Health and STEAM Festival.

Contributed Article

THATCHER – Eastern Arizona College (EAC) is teaming up once again with the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center (MGRMC) to bring the eighth annual Gila Valley Health and STEAM Festival to the Gila Valley. This expo will include a wide variety of safe, hands-on activities and demonstrations showcasing health, science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math along with free blood, hearing, and vision screenings.

The event will begin at the Eastern Arizona College Discovery Park Campus on Friday, Feb. 25 from 3 p.m. – 8 p.m. Learn about mapping, topography, watershed, and natural hazards with our new Augmented Reality Sandbox. Visit the StarLab Planetarium, dissect owl pellets, make and launch a paper air rocket, watch a “shocking” demonstration, learn about native birds and fish, visit with the Gila Watershed Partnership and learn how plants, insects, and climate affect our area. Enjoy a Shuttle Ride and explore the universe through a variety of telescopes.

This exciting event continues on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 8 a.m., beginning with the Go Gold Run for Childhood Cancer Color Run – Nathaniel’s Childhood Cancer Foundation. Registration will open at 7:30 a.m. at the Monster Exchange, EAC Middle Campus on Church Street. The mile fun run will begin at 8 a.m. with the 5K following at 8:30 a.m. Go to 2022 Go Gold for Childhood Cancer Color Run – Nathaniel’s Childhood Cancer Foundation (runsignup.com) to register.

Join the fun on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. by participating in a wide variety of hands-on STEAM activities at EAC’s North Campus and in the Activities Center. In the large parking lot, take your photo on a large farm implement and learn about erosion with the U of A Cooperative Extension/Gila Watershed Partnership’s Rolling River Floodplain. Explore a DPS helicopter and talk to the DPS motorcycle squad. Learn about the effects of driving under the influence by navigating through a Go-Kart course challenge. Continue into the Activities Center where the MGRMC is sponsoring free blood, hearing, and vision screenings. Talk to experts and receive valuable health information at a variety of vendor booths. At 11 a.m., the Women’s Chorale will treat everyone with some special music. Chase Moore may even entertain us with some improvisation of the piano. It will be a treat.

Speaking of treats, enjoy some mini donuts, cool off with a shave ice from Shiver Shack, and enjoy some cotton candy. As you move south on North Campus, you will pass the CPR and First Aid Statin where you can learn lifesaving skills and take a tour of the EAC training ambulance. Nursing faculty will teach you about your heart and how it is able to pump blood throughout your body to bring oxygen to every cell. You will be able to walk inside a large hot air balloon, visit our live Gila Monster mascot and other interesting animals as well as participate in some fund hands-on learning activities in the Math Science building.

First Things First will be providing an Early Childhood Learning Lab where kids can explore the world of STEM. If you aren’t sure how much fun science can be, meander into the Math/Science Building at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. to watch three chemistry magic shows presented by the EAC Organic Chemistry class.
Just south of the Math/Science building is the CBIT building, where you can learn about coding, 3D coloring, and LEGO robotics.

Don’t forget to pick up your passport at one of the information booths so that you can enter to win one of many prizes, including a Go-Pro camera. All ages are welcome to participate. You only need to visit 10 activities to be eligible for the drawing.

Food from local vendors will be available on Friday at the EAC Discovery Park Campus and on Saturday at the EAC North Campus. As always, there is no charge to the public to attend, and there are a lot of prizes that you can win just by dropping by to visit.

The Festival is being brought to the community by a committee consisting of local partners, including Eastern Arizona College, Freeport McMoRan, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Eastern Arizona Science Initiative, CMI Printing, First Things First, Double R Sound, Life Net, Audiology, Inc., Graham County Electric Co-op, and the Arizona SciTech Festival. More information about activities and schedules can be found at www.eac.edu/SciTechFestival.

The Arizona SciTech Festival is a state-wide celebration of science, technology, engineering and math held annually in February and March. If you would like more information about the local festival, please contact Dr. Phil McBride at 928-428-8404 or by email at phil.mcbride@eac.edu.