Watch These Scouts Become Mini Engineers Before Your Eyes

I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m a really big fan of science, technology, engineering and math — also known as STEM. These fields are fascinating to me. And I’m not the only one.

These topics captivate the attention of people everywhere. They provide the pathway to success for countless young people. And as you probably have heard me say by now, I think STEM also represents a pathway to a bright future for Scouting — which is why I’ve identified STEM Scouts as one of the four pillars of our Game Plan for growth. The potential of this program is only dwarfed by the opportunity it brings for the young people – it turns out this generation sees the power of STEM, but they need our help in making what they learn in the classroom come alive in their world.

So of course I was delighted to learn that some of our Scouts in the Greater St. Louis Area Council recently participated in a “mini-engineering” event hosted by engineering firm EPIC Systems, Inc. at its fabrication and manufacturing engineering facility.

Check out this great video to see our Scouts in action at the event, where our participating Webelos earned an engineering merit badge.

Our Scouts participated in several STEM-related activities, including designing race cars, building and sinking tin-foil boats and more. Engineers from EPIC led workshops, teaching our Scouts about 2D and 3D design practices, engineering disciplines, career opportunities and other topics. And members of the Saint Louis University Aviation and Washington University Formula Car teams were on hand to show off their projects and answer questions.

What an outstanding event — and it’s just one of many that the Boy Scouts of Greater St. Louis participate in throughout the year to bring STEM learning opportunities to students in the local community.

With cool educational programs like this, who wouldn’t be attracted to the exciting world of STEM? I think we may have some full-size engineers in our presence before we know it.