One of the things we’re most passionate about at BizStream is educating and inspiring future generations of developers. This is why we have BizStream Academy, support Allendale Robotics, and participate in other community-driven events. When we were contacted by Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and Share Fair Nation about participating in their STEMosphere event, we jumped at the opportunity. STEMosphere gives students the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities in STEM related fields. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics--areas BizStream is all about.



For our booth, we set up several laptops for participants to try out a beginner-friendly programming tool called Scratch. Scratch allows students and people of all ages to create programs without actually writing any code. It teaches fundamental programming concepts through a drag-and-drop interface, so if a student loves Scratch and wants to try out more advanced programming, they’ll already have a head start. The Scratch language, built by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, can even connect to some real-world hardware for robotic fun! Scratch is also free, and we encouraged participants who enjoyed trying out the program to continue experimenting at home.



We were excited to participate alongside other organizations engaging students in activities such as robotics, virtual reality, construction, and other fascinating STEM topics. It was great seeing all the exciting activities that other organizations are doing, and seeing all of the young people getting excited, too. Over 3,000 participants showed up to the Grand Rapids Public Museum to participate. That’s a lot! Students and parents enjoyed stopping by our booth, trying out Scratch, and learning more about BizStream Academy. We look forward to participating in more events like this in the future.