Community invited to participate in SJSD’s annual Earth Day celebration

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph School District, in collaboration with Schneider Electric and Missouri Western State University, will host its annual Earth Day event at Hyde Elementary.

The event is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 22.

This year, the fourth-grade students will engage in a hands-on solar bug activity, complemented by an interactive presentation on renewable energy.

SJSD has partnered with local organizations to deliver STEM-focused Earth Day events since 2023.

Previous years' events have featured career panels and scientific workshops designed to inspire older students toward Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers.

This year's focus is to ignite early interest in STEM among elementary students.

"These Earth Day activities bring science and environmentalism to life in an engaging and tactile manner for out young learners," SJSD Superintendent Ashly McGinnis said. "This gives them an opportunity to learn by working with renewable technology and interacting with the professionals implementing these solutions in the real world."

According to the National Library for Medicine, early exposure to experimental STEM learning has been shown to enhance, motivation, interest and creative thinking.

Additionally, research from the IOSR Journal of Research and Method in Education indicates that hands-on science activities support academic achievement, conceptual understanding, critical thinking, problem-solving and student engagement.

The St. Joseph School District and its partners also invite the community to participate in the Earth Day celebrations.

An Earth Day activity kit is available to download for free for any young family members interested in participated at home.