(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Welcome to "Almanac North."

I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Tonight our conversation centers around science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, or STEAM.

We have guests from industry, education, and a robotics club here to share what STEAM is, why it's important, and what to expect in the future.

That's up next on Almanac North.

But first, the Minnesota National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing will deploy personnel and aircraft overseas this summer as part of a regularly scheduled deployment.

The Air National Guard is a combat-ready reserve of the Air Force, providing mission-ready Airmen to safeguard the homeland and execute global operations, said 148th Fighter Wing Commander Colonel Nate Aysta.

The Bulldogs of the 148th Fighter Wing are ready to provide a trained and equipped aviation package of Airmen and aircraft to meet the needs of our deployed location.

The deployment location is not releasable at this time.

The 148th has previously deployed overseas in support of several missions, including Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005, 2007, and 2009, and most recently as a part of Operations New Dawn and Inherent Resolve in 2022.

A timely nod to our local service members as Memorial Day weekend approaches.

This weekend is considered the kickoff to the summer recreational boating season and lake activity will increase markedly in coming weeks.

DNR conservation officers want to help everyone ensure the memories they make on the water are positive.

In conjunction with the summer kickoff, the enforcement division also is unveiling a new statewide marine unit dedicated specifically to ensuring the safety of people on Minnesota lakes and rivers.

In addition to routinely working Minnesota's busiest lakes and rivers, the marine unit will work to train other public safety agencies with their water safety efforts.

Here are a few tips from the DNR to keep in mind.

Wear a foam-filled life jacket.

Ensure watercraft are registered and equipped with proper safety equipment.

Distribute weight evenly and abide by manufacturers' weight limits.

Always use the engine cutoff device if the watercraft is equipped with one.

Have a means of communication and watch the weather.

Now let's shift our focus to an exciting event that took place over the past weekend.

Our community came together at the Depot for their annual STEAM Festival.

What is STEAM and why is it important?

Let's go to Dennis.

- Thank you, Maarja.

It's good to see you.

Over the weekend, our community was abuzz with excitement at the annual Depot STEAM Festival, an event dedicated to science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.

Now, the festival brought together local organizations and families for a day filled with interactive learning and fun.

The festival featured a lineup of hands-on experiments and activities designed to inspire curiosity and creativity in young minds.

Now, one of the main attractions was NASA's astronaut mascot, who engaged attendees with space-themed activities.

Participants had the chance to explore the cosmos in the portable Alworth Planetarium and then build their own rockets with the help of UMD Rocketry.

The Lake Superior Aquarium engaged budding marine biologists with a rather unique plankton creature and some activity surrounding that creation.

Robotics enthusiasts were treated to interactive demonstrations from Denfeld's first team in 3D robotics, showcasing their latest in robotic technology.

Environmental science activities were provided by WLSSD, Replay Workshop, and Extension Master Gardeners, emphasizing the importance of sustainability.

The festival also highlighted local arts with the Minnesota Ballet offering a mini dance class and the Duluth Superior Symphony presenting a musical petting zoo.

Wildlife enthusiasts enjoyed interactive exhibits from the Lake Superior Zoo and Great Lakes Aquarium.

But why is STEAM so important?

Integrating science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics in education encourages critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.

It prepares students for future careers, fostering skills that are essential in our rapidly advancing world.

STEAM education also promotes teamwork and collaboration, helping students to innovate and adapt in a variety of fields.

This is Dennis Anderson from Denny's desk.

And now back to you, Maarja.

- Thank you, Denny.

Next up, we are joined in the studio by Charity Johnson, the director of Starbase Minnesota.

Welcome to "Almanac North," Charity.

- Hi.

Thanks, Maarja, for having me.

- Well, let's start with Star Base Duluth.

What is it and what is the organization?

- Yep.

So Starbase Minnesota is a STEM education non-profit.

So we run a free education program for local fifth graders in science, technology, engineering, and math, teaching them a very immersive, hands-on experience that they can't get anywhere else up on the 148th Fighter Wing where our facility's located.

- So how does that work?

Is it the kids come during school or it's an extracurricular program or?

- Yep, it's an additional program that's supplemental to what they receive at school.

And they spend an entire week with us, so 25 hours, and they come for five consecutive days with their entire class.

So it's a free program that every single student gets the opportunity to experience in the northeastern Minnesota area.

- How did Duluth get this program?

'Cause it sounds like it's, you can find it across the country.

- Yeah.

- And we have it here in Duluth.

- Yep.

We actually, there's a program in St. Paul and they were one of the first original Starbase programs in the early nineties, and we were kind of born out of that program wanting to expand and they were looking for opportunities to do that elsewhere in Minnesota.

And Duluth was kind of an obvious choice based on our geographic range and our ability to serve so many students in the northeastern Minnesota area.

So we can actually serve over 3,000 fifth graders annually in our facility.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- So over the course of those five days that those kids come for the training, what do those days look like and what are they learning?

- Yeah.

When they first enter our program, they're introduced as engineers and scientists who will be manning a mission to Mars.

So they are immersed in that journey and every activity that they do, whether it's related to chemistry or engineering or technology or math, they are the engineers and scientists that are actively designing hypotheses and all tied to that mission.

So they're thinking about the atmosphere on Earth, but what is the atmosphere like on Mars and what are those differences?

And all of that math and science that we are aligning when it comes to those benchmarks and standards that they're teaching back at school are all kind of hidden and embedded in the math in those activities and lessons.

So oftentimes the students don't even realize how much they're learning and how much their brains are growing while they're there and they're just exhausted by the end of the day and the end of their week.

And oftentimes when they're going home or on the bus on the way home, they're talking more about Starbase and more about their day than they've ever talked about their entire school year with their parents.

So it really means that it's impacting them and they're really engaged in what they're learning.

- Yeah, I have to imagine that sounds like such a cool way to, you know, talk about these STEM topics with the mission to Mars.

What are the reactions from kids?

Like do you see kids all of a sudden like have a light bulb turn on that they could have a job that's related to this someday?

- Very much.

They often find their hidden talents at Starbase.

Students who often learn in a different way, a lot of students nowadays learn in a very hands-on way, they have to learn by doing, and those are often the students who flourish at Starbase.

So they find that they can engage in those activities and they will succeed oftentimes, where other times at school they might have learned that, or kind of been conditioned to the fact that they might not have success in these topics, where at Starbase they actually learn that they've got great aptitude and they get that confidence behind them.

And that just kind of propels them to that next level where maybe I do want to go into a STEM career.

Maybe I do want to be an engineer.

And all of their testimonials that they leave us with at the end of the week just say that, you know, Starbase taught me that, you know, they inspired a confidence in me or they inspired me to become an engineer or something further in STEM and keep going with STEM and those are what we love to hear and what keep us going with our jobs every day too.

- So I understand that now Starbase has been around long enough now that you have seniors who have gone through the program.

So you're introducing a scholarship program.

- Yeah, that's correct.

So next year, our oldest alumni will be entering their senior year of high school.

So we will be rolling out and announcing a scholarship for those students who will be considering a STEM major in their next steps.

And whether they are pursuing a four-year degree or maybe they're going to an associate's program or some sort of a certification in a trades program, those students will be eligible to apply for our scholarship.

And then every subsequent year following, all the schools that have joined our program, those students will have access and the ability to apply for the program and the scholarship through our website.

- [Maarja] Oh, wow.

- So we're really excited to announce that.

- Any other programs you're expanding in the future?

- Yeah, we actually, the last couple years have taken the next steps with students and we're now operating a program at the middle school level.

So we're doing an afterschool program at Lincoln Park in Duluth, Minnesota right now and that program is eligible for any sixth, seventh, or eighth grader who just wants more STEM and more Starbase.

So we're partnering with the school and we're doing just really fun, immersive activities that we put more technology in their hands, brings more guests, more individuals who have STEM careers and kind of gets them hands-on with those folks and the ability to ask them questions and talk about what it's like to have a real world STEM career.

And it's just been a really great experience and we hope to continue to expand that and bring more students into that program too.

- Charity, as a leader of a STEM-focused organization, what do you hope the STEM future looks like and what do you hope the kids get out of this program?

- I really hope that it inspires a lot of confidence in students who maybe didn't think that a STEM career would be possible for them.

And I hope that they continue to fill a lot of the STEM careers that are just gonna be coming on board like crazy in the future.

There's gonna be so many jobs in computer science and engineering and so many of our industries in the region are gonna need those young people to fill those roles and they'll be able to find jobs right in their own backyard that they can be successful and have a wonderful career.

So I hope that we can help fulfill that mission.

- Charity, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you for having me.

(no audio) - Our next guests are from Denfeld Robotics.

Team Captain Ben Martin and Safety Captain Sarah Shaffer are with us.

Thank you for joining us.

- Yeah, thank you.

- Thank you.

- So FIRST Robotics is a massive organization, very popular now nationwide.

Can you tell us what robotics is as a team at Denfeld?

- Yeah, I think one of the things I like most about it is that it's going just past building a robot and doing the competition every year.

It's doing events in our community.

We just helped out at the STEAM Festival this past weekend on Saturday and even worked with a Girl Scout troop on Sunday to help earn their STEM badges building scribblebots with them.

- Oh, cool.

- Yeah, and the way FIRST kind of works is in the beginning of January, we get like a new game every year and we have about six weeks to design and build a robot to kind of fit for that game.

- So January is the start of the season and then you have competitions throughout the season.

Does it culminate like to a state, national championship or how does that work?

- Yeah, well, Minnesota does have a state championship, but mostly when you're going for events, you're going to go to World's if you win an event or win one of two awards, the Engineering Inspiration Award or the FIRST Impact Award.

- And Duluth hosts a pretty large competition, right?

The Double Decker?

- Yeah, it's the biggest robotics event besides the World's Championship down in Houston.

And what makes the Double Decker so different is that it's actually two different regionals happening at the same time in the arena.

So we are on the Lake Superior regional side, but then there's also the other one right behind the other side of the curtain happening.

So there's a lot of teams there, so it can get pretty noisy, but it's definitely a really fun event to go collect buttons and meet a lot of different teams.

- So, Ben, you're a team leader, and Sarah, you're a safety captain.

Can you tell us about your roles and what are other roles on the team?

- Yeah, so we have the team captain and then under them we have five other captain positions.

This year we have our build captain and controls captain and they're more focused on the robot side of it, building the robot, finding the parts we need, the electrical side.

Then we have our safety captain who is in charge of making sure the entire team is being safe, following those rules.

And then we have our business side of the team, which is our business captain, media captain, kind of answering the emails, doing outreach events and just figuring out, raising money, writing grants and stuff like that to help our team.

- So you really fall on a wide spectrum of skills and different things you need to do.

How do you decide where you fall on the team?

- Well, a lot of it's up to choice.

We don't kinda like have people come in and just kind of stick 'em somewhere.

We kinda let them figure it out and decide.

And if they want to change later, like if they start in build but decide they like something more on the business side, then they're free to switch at any time, so.

- Yeah, like with that, when I joined freshman year, I was kind of thinking I want to go into programming.

I've always kind of been interested and I went in thinking this might lead to me wanting to do a career in programming, but pretty quickly I was realizing not for me and so I wanted to expand a little.

I started doing other stuff and that got me into the safety part of robotics and then later on helping the business side.

And then I found how much I love doing the events and going to businesses with our marketing packets and showing what the team means and how much we have an impact on not just us, but our community.

- So you both have been involved in robotics for a long time, starting with Lego robotics and being involved through your younger years and now in high school.

What have you enjoyed about being a part of robotics and what have you learned?

- Well, I've really loved just being on a team because it's such a tight-knit community, not just on your team, but from like any, teams from like all over.

When you go to events, you fit just right in.

It's not just you're on this team, so that's the only people you hang out with.

You can go and talk to anybody.

So that's the biggest part for me, I think.

- Yeah, and along with that I think is the community events.

We're really close with a lot of teams in the area, like the Esko robotics team, 5690 SubZero, the East robotics team, and the Marshall and Hermantown teams.

We've worked so close with them.

It's so great to have the community.

We even went down to the Colorado Regional with the Hermantown and Esko robotics team.

So that was a fun thing to do with them.

- You know, how are you learning how to build these robots and do these things?

Are these things you're learning from taking away from class, you have education to go through, it's kind of trial and error?

- Well, we have an amazing team of mentors who volunteer their time to help students work on like building robots.

We have programming, business, and we also have our coach who kind of helps run it through the school and everything.

- And I think along with that is going to competitions and you're competing with these teams, but you're also working together with them in some matches.

So we go up to them and we'll ask them questions about things we want to improve on and things we want to take away.

So if there's something specifically they do, we'll talk to them and be like, "Hey, how'd you guys do this?"

So we can get advice to do it ourselves.

- What would you say to a young fifth grader who's interested in STEM and STEAM and wants to get involved?

- Well, I'd really say just like, you don't have to commit all your time.

Start small.

If you really kind of dive in, you can burn yourself out.

So start small, like investigate, do small things, and if you find you really are enjoying it, then you can like work up to spending a lot of time in it.

- Yeah, and I think it's just diving in, finding the first part that you enjoy and kind of expanding on it, going to your school and seeing if they have any programs for that, and if not, just YouTubing DIY projects you can do at home to further yourself.

- Some great advice.

Sarah, Ben, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

(no audio) (no audio) - Finally tonight, we are joined by Executive Director of the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota, Kristen Vake.

Kristen, welcome.

- Thank you so much for having me.

Excited to be here.

- We're happy to have you here.

And you know, you might be a familiar face to some folks at home.

Can you share a little bit about your background and then what led you to being the Executive Director of the IMA?

- Yeah, I'd love to.

So I was a news anchor for Channel 3 in Duluth for about six years.

And during that time, I was a reporter on the mining industry.

I grew up in Chisholm.

Generations of my family have worked in iron mining.

And so when the opportunity came up to run the Iron Mining Association, it seemed like a good fit and the timing was just right for me personally and professionally.

And so, yeah, I took the leap.

It was a little scary.

Anytime you take on something new, it's a little scary, but I'm so glad I did it.

And really, that reporting that I did on the mining industry set me up for this new job that I have.

- Oh, absolutely.

I'm sure you were an expert in all the mining topics.

- Well, what's really cool is my family history.

I actually learned so much more about mining when I was a reporter than I even knew growing up just minutes from an active mine.

And so that's been really fun to kind of explore that a little bit more.

And in my job at the Iron Mining Association, I'm continuing to share that story of the iron mining industry.

So I still get to dabble in my journalism skills.

- Yeah, it kind of connects, you know, your family, your journalism background, and your hometown, where you're from.

- Exactly.

- So tell us about the Iron Mining Association.

What is it as an organization and what do you do as the Executive Director?

- Yeah, so we are a nonprofit organization, a trade association, and essentially we advocate for and support the iron mining industry that is not only the mining companies themselves, it's also the hundreds of vendor supplier companies that service the mining industry.

And so we do a lot of different things.

And most recently we've really been focused on STEM, on students, and then on education, not just in schools, but really across the entire state.

Iron mining has been around for 140 years, which is crazy to think about, but a lot of people still don't know it even exists.

And so I get the pleasure of going around and talking about this industry that has impacted my family for generations, really brought us to the Iron Range, and I get to share that story with people.

So that's a big part of my job right now.

- Well, I was looking at your members on the website and of course you have the mines, which there's STEM-related work there, but if you look at all the industry-related organizations and employers, I mean, it's all STEM-related.

- [Kristen] Yes.

- Of even banks, you know?

You have mathematics and things like that.

So why are you guys shifting and really trying to focus in on education of STEM and get in the schools and things like that?

- Yeah, I think it's really, you know, it's interesting.

Probably a decade ago or so when I was in an internship, the conversation around the future workforce shortage was huge.

Everyone was talking about it.

There was concerns about that retirement, that generation retiring, and now we're in that.

And so we need more students involved in STEM.

We want to make sure that they're aware of all the opportunities that are out there.

And sometimes there's some misperceptions about what mining looks like, but as you mentioned, it's vast.

The opportunities are really endless depending on what you're passionate about.

And so that's really our focus and that's why we want to connect with students because they just might not know what's out there.

And so that's been a lot of fun to connect with them and share all the opportunities.

- You know, you mentioned some maybe missed perceptions about what mining looks like and what working in a mine looks like.

I mean, what is the spectrum of work that goes on at a mine?

- Yeah.

Well, you know, as I mentioned, iron mining has been around for a very, very long time, 140 years, and so it's changed significantly.

And that includes the technology behind it.

I mean, now there's the use of AI.

I mean, it's just a vast range of technology.

There's the engineering side of it, the environmental side of it.

You know, there's the obvious.

You know, you can drive the big trucks.

I mean, there's so many opportunities, and not just in mining, but also in those service industries that help support the mines and keep them running day and night.

- What are some challenges that the mining industry is facing right now and that the IMA is maybe advocating for?

- I think it is just the lack of awareness of what mining entails, why it's so important, and the jobs that are out there.

Something that we're doing is a new series called The Mining Story.

And really the goal behind that is sort of a Mining 101.

What is iron mining?

What does it entail?

Who's involved?

How does it happen?

And we can use that to not only educate the public, but also to share our story and to give teachers resources to take those videos and those interviews into their classrooms and really help students explore the different opportunities that are out there.

So that's been a lot of fun.

- Where if someone's interested in checking that out, on your website, social media?

- Yes.

On our website, social media, on our Facebook page.

And then we have a YouTube page as well.

Just search Iron Mining Association.

- Kristen, thank you so much for joining us.

We really appreciate it.

- Thank you.

(no audio) (no audio) - Before we go, here's a look at what you might be up to this weekend.

Gardeners out there are getting excited to get their plants in the ground.

In addition to several plant swaps happening in the area, the American Indian Community Housing Organization, AICHO, is hosting their third annual garden plant sale from 12 to 4 PM on Saturday.

With an emphasis on indigenous food sovereignty and community access to healthy indigenous foods and food producers, AICHO encourages you to start your garden any way you can.

Their plant sale is on East 4th Street in Duluth.

Also, Saturday at 7:00 PM, the Duluth Harbor Monsters kick off their inaugural season of arena football.

The Harbor Monsters' first-ever home game at the DECC Arena features Big Wave Dave and the Ripples at halftime.

Tickets and more information are available online.

And of course, this weekend is Memorial Day weekend.

Expect busier than usual traffic, larger crowds, and events happening all over the region.

Be safe and courteous while traveling or exploring.

And make sure to take time to remember those who serve to keep our country safe.

Well, as always, get out and enjoy your weekend.

And if you're looking for more STEAM stories, we have an exclusive story with UMD Rocketry available online.

I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Thank you for joining us on "Almanac North."

I'll see you all next time.

Goodnight.

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