City of STEM kicks off with help from Bill Nye the Science Guy

Mayor Sean Ashton, Bill Nye and Ben Dickow. Photo by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY -- The 2018 City of STEM Science Festival officially blasted off last week from the steps of Los Angeles City Hall with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Bill Nye the Science Guy in attendance.

The month-long festival is composed of numerous events for all ages occurring all throughout communities within the Greater Los Angeles area. It will culminate in a large-scale City of Stem celebration to be held at the Columbia Memorial Space Center on April 28.

It is spearheaded by the Columbia Memorial Space Center and its President Ben Dickow, who also serves as the festival organizer.

“This morning begins one month of science, technology, engineering and math activities that are happening all over LA,” said Dickow. “City of STEM is a platform to unite the diversity of Greater Los Angeles, rallying the public around science and drawing attention to the region’s continued national importance in STEM research, education and industry, from aerospace to biotech. We will bring STEM activities to a variety of audiences, opening access to STEM throughout the region.”

Also representing Downey at the kickoff was Mayor Sean Ashton.

“It is events like this that are really encouraging to me as a teacher because our job is not to prepare students for the careers of today. It’s our job to prepare students for the careers of tomorrow,” said Ashton. “When you have partners like the City of LA, the Columbia Memorial Space Center, the City of Downey involved with this, it’s really encouraging what we can do with our children. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to sponsor this in our city.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti described LA as “an innovation incubator.”

“City of STEM is an opportunity for LA to showcase a science, technology, and engineering ecosystem that is creating new opportunities every day and putting LA at the center of a global movement to envision tomorrow and build it today.”

Famous scientist Bill Nye said that “Los Angeles can be a model for the world.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Downey Mayor Sean Ashton. Photo by Alex Dominguez

“We can ensure that our home here remains a world leader by providing science, engineering and math curricular to students of all ages,” said Nye. “It is through education that we produce the scientists, mathematicians and engineers who will produce the technologies of tomorrow.
It’s about the wellbeing and quality of life for each and every one of us…Here in the ‘City of Angels’ we have almost 750,000 students in our schools, so providing them with what they need is not only a great responsibility, I view it as a great opportunity; an opportunity for all of us to – dare I say it – change the world.”

More information – including a calendar of events – can be found at cityofstem.org.

Partnering with the CMSC for this year’s festivities will be the City of Los Angeles, Northrop Grumman, Ozobot, Los Angeles County Alliance for Boys and Girls Clubs, Biocom, Amgen, Los Angeles Public Library, YMCA, SpaceX, Aerojet-Rocketdyne, Planetary Society, Sierra Club, Two Bit Circus, Natural History Museum, Aquarium of the Pacific, Virgin Orbit, JPL, Impossible Science and Financial Partners Credit Union.