Maryville College STEMFest returns Saturday, March 29, thanks to trio of Scots and new campus partners
March 21, 2025
PLEASE NOTE: Due to inclement weather forecast for both Sunday, March 30, and Sunday, April 6, the Maryville College STEMFest will take place from 2-6 p.m. Saturday, March 29. All other details remain the same, and the following release has been edited to reflect that change.
They’ll cross the Commencement stage in little more than a month to claim their diplomas, but before they do, Maryville College’s Reese Bailey ’25, Kaitlin Koster ’25 and Isabella “Izzy” Wright ’25 will revisit an exciting part of their first year on campus.
In 2022, the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the biology honor society TriBeta (BBB) threw a science-themed party that had, save for a couple of years when the COVID pandemic shut down large gatherings, been a staple of spring fun on the MC campus that sometimes brought out as many as 1,000 local students from kindergarten to seniors in high school.
Now, on March 29, STEMFest will return, thanks in large part to the efforts of Bailey, Koster and Wright, as well as the efforts of non-science majors who have worked diligently to promote and market the event, said Dr. Nathan Duncan, associate professor of chemistry.
“Kaitlin, Izzy and Reese were all first-year students when we last held it, and this gave them the opportunity to have a STEMFest of their own,” Duncan said. “Over the past few years, they have demonstrated leadership in helping to get more of our chemistry, biology and biochemistry, and environmental science majors to get involved with the ACS and BBB student groups. It was that demonstrated leadership that proved to us they could handle such a big undertaking.
“Secondly, the Hospitality (and Regional Identity) program’s creation, and a new course on event planning and management by Dr. (Angela) Sebby (associate professor and coordinator of the Hospitality and Regional Identity program), made bringing it back much easier. We’ve never really had expert knowledge on event logistics, and while our carnival games were always great, some of the preparation logistics were a challenge.
“Having students who are doing this kind of work as a part of their major are just a natural fit, and I think the things they are bringing to the event this year will make the experience even better,” Duncan said.
A family-friendly, educational carnival that celebrates the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEMFest in the past has included a number of games such as life-sized Operation and life-sized Battleship, Lego car racing, an annual pie-eating contest, laser tag and more. While the games themselves are fun, Duncan said, the interaction between science students and members of the general public is also a huge draw.
“I think it was popular because it was just a unique experience for our area, and the general public enjoys seeing Maryville College students bring their passions to life for younger students,” he said. “A lot of the event will be familiar — we will still have our STEM-themed carnival games, our laser tag course, and our famous pie eating contest, but we have some new things this year too.”
‘Doing good’ means giving back, students say
Community interaction through service work is something Koster, Bailey and Wright are already familiar with. Last summer, the trio conducted research projects on Blount County’s Little River, with Wright’s work connected to a four-year water quality assessment study by the College and in conjunction with the City of Townsend. Given the fun they had during their first-year participation in STEMFest, Koster said, it feels like a full-circle moment to put it together six weeks before they graduate.
“We saw the true impact of what a festival like this can have, especially with the emphasis the College is putting on engaging our Maryville community,” she said. “This event offers games and prizes that everyone can enjoy regardless of their age. It promotes STEM in a way that is fun and exciting, and it’s always so rewarding to see people engaging with something so meaningful to us. We have even had friends who went into STEM specifically because of the impact STEMFest had on them growing up.”
Now, some of those attendees may be encouraged to check out the HRI program as well, given the assist those students have given to the success of STEMFest. Sebby’s class, Duncan said, has created a “STEMFest Passport” that each attendee will receive upon check-in; completion of each activity booth will earn a passport “stamp,” and when the passport is full, the holder will receive a gift and be entered into a drawing for prizes.
The collaboration, Duncan said, came about because he and Sebby make frequent use of the new Maryville College Downtown Center when teaching courses in their respective programs (HRI by Sebby, and Fermentation Science by Duncan).
“Anytime we cross paths in the Downtown Center, we are always coming up with new ways for MC to engage the public,” Duncan said. “She’s a great colleague, and I’m excited to partner with her on this. It’s going well, we definitely have some great added value to this event thanks to the work of her class, and both her students and my students are learning a lot from this experience.”
Hopefully, the public will learn a few things as well on March 30 — primarily that STEM programs at Maryville College are some of the best in the region, and the students who populate them are very well prepared for careers in science, technology, engineering and math thanks to the hands-on approach of the College’s liberal arts curriculum.
“We are the best-kept secret among students choosing a college because of the outcomes of our graduates,” Duncan said. “The hands-on experiences that we provide, particularly with regard lab-based skills building regardless of whether it’s in chemistry, biology, ecology or environmental science, make our graduates highly sought after because of their experiences. Many of their peers aren’t doing a third of what our students are doing in our lab courses. My colleagues and I in the Division of Natural Sciences get calls regularly asking if we have any graduates who need a job.”
And while he’ll likely be quick to recommend Bailey, Koster and Wright for one, he needs them to pull off one more on-campus task before they accept. It’s hard work, Koster said, but worth it to see dozens of smiling faces at the various game stations on the day of the event.
“When it all comes together and the festival succeeds, it is so worth it!” she said. “We hope to see a huge engagement from both the Maryville city community and our very own campus community, and an excitement about STEM, Maryville College, and all of the groups featured at our event that may not have been there before. STEMFest went dormant for a couple years, but it is SO back, and we hope everyone else is as excited for it as we are!”
The details
STEMFest, which is an all-ages event, will take place from 2-6 p.m. Saturday, March 29, on the campus lawn, stretching from Thaw Hall to the Clayton Center for the Arts. General admission is $5 per person, which includes a limited number of game tickets (more game tickets can be purchased on site), and parents will get a free tote/reusable grocery bag for the collection of prize items.
For more information, email Duncan at nathan.duncan@maryvillecollege.edu.