01-03-2025
Pinellas students find inspiration during annual STEM Day field trip to Grand Prix
The Brief
Almost 100 Pinellas County students went on a field trip to the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg's racetrack on Friday to learn about possible STEM careers.
The field trip saw students get a behind-the-scenes look at race day operations, tour the paddocks, meet drivers and see STEM skills.
Officials say the point of the field trip is meant to show students interesting STEM career opportunities outside a classroom.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay area students had a pretty cool field trip Friday at the Grand Prix.
Pinellas County Schools, St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch, and the city hosted 75 students at the third annual Team Accelerate STEM Day.
They got a behind-the-scenes look at race day operations, toured the paddocks, met drivers, and saw STEM skills in the field.
Dig deeper
Friday morning, students from three local schools also visited three stations at the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub.
READ: Grand Prix kicks off with Party in the Park showcasing race cars, drivers
They visited Saildrone's Ocean Mapping headquarters, where they monitor hurricanes and other activity. They also visited the Coast Guard, toured their ships, and participated in a Lego-building activity.
Why you should care
Pinellas County Schools says a day like Friday allows students to see various STEM skills and dream of their future in the field.
"This is so important because we can talk about things like this, and students will be listening and interested, but we can't show them things like this," said Cathie Mullins, the Secondary STEM staff Developer for PCS. "So, when we bring them out into the field for these experiences, that's where students really start to say, 'oh, well, maybe this is something I could do,'" she said.
READ: Firestone Grand Prix expected to bring more than 100K fans to St. Pete this weekend
"They start to see that there's more to STEM. There's more to learning than just what they get sitting in the classroom," she said.
"Overall, it's a really good day for our students, all-encompassing of a wide variety of STEM skills, and they get the opportunity to kind of dream a little bit and maybe see something that they never thought of," Mullins said.
The students also got to watch some of the races from the stands.
The Source
FOX 13's Kailey Tracy collected the information in this story.
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