Originally posted on February 28, 2025

The hum of curiosity filled the Hollenstein Career and Technology Center on Thursday, February 27 as students from across EMS ISD turned science into a spectacle at the annual STEM Showcase.

With more than 70 showcases, students from prekindergarten through twelfth grade captivated a crowd of around 700 with hands-on experiments.

"This is my first STEM Showcase," Danielle Ortiz, a junior at Eagle Mountain High School, said. "I liked explaining to the kids how this electrical current works. This event makes them more interested in learning about science. It makes them enjoy science."

Otiz and her fellow EMHS students demonstrated how to generate electricity from various pieces of fruit.

"I was shocked to see the amount of people and all different ages," said Ibrahim Al Mumin, Ortiz's classmate. "It’s not just students but faculty members taking all of this in. It’s great to see people from so many schools come together. It’s a great sense of community."

The showcases covered a very diverse scale of science, technology, engineering and math.

Fifth-grader Marcus Kirstein and his fellow students from Lake Pointe Elementary demonstrated a project on solar pasteurization.

"We demonstrated how to clean water through solar pasteurization," Kirstein explained. "People were amazed because the Dr. Pepper went from dark to clear, clean water after pasteurization."

For his mother, Shannon Kirstein, something different caught her attention.

"I think this event expands their minds where they’re trying to figure out why things work the way they do," she said. "I enjoy watching the students present their project and talk so confidently about their work."

That is also the favorite aspect of the event for many teachers.

"Watching the kids present is my favorite part. The kids show their learning, and some of them really come out of their shell in this environment," said Meg Farley, EMS ISD Gifted and Talented PACE Lead.

The environment is one of excitement. Full of people from start to finish, the buzz never dies down.

"This is like a science fair on steroids," said Theresa Parisi, the secondary science curriculum coordinator at EMS ISD, and an event organizer. "It is packed and loud, exciting, and there are STEM demonstrations in every corner."

And it is not by happenstance that you can find elementary students demonstrating their showcase next to high school students. 

"We place the showcases strategically so we have all grades around each other," Parisi explained. "Our older students love seeing what younger students are doing, and we hear younger students excited about what they will get to learn in high school."

That it runs smoothly every year, as long as the weather is good, is also a testament to the dedication of educators around EMS ISD towards ensuring personalized opportunities through a first-rate STEM education.

 "It really takes all of us in the Education Services Department at Central Administration, the team at the HCTC, and so many campus teachers and every campus administrator to make an event of this size and scope happen successfully," Parisi said. "But, then they watch with pride as these students confidently present their high-level STEM projects to hundreds of people throughout the evening."

For students like Al Mumin, they hope the interest and experimentation for the younger students doesn't leave when they leave the event.

"A lot of these experiments, like ours, you can do at home," he said. "So, while some are complex, they are not necessarily complicated or expensive, and I hope younger students want to go home and try some of these for themselves."

The EMS ISD STEM Showcase continues to inspire and engage students, fostering a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics across the district.