SUMTER, S.C. — Thousands of people, many of them students, headed to Downtown Sumter on Saturday for a Saturday aimed at sparking interest in career fields they may not have considered.
The city hosted E-STEAM, a free family festival focused on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.
"It's amazing to see how the kids just kinda get excited, with learning and seeing all of the cool things that are out here," exhibitor Darlene Sparks said. "So, that's just that's the biggest joy right there."
The events allowed kids to take part in building projects, science experiments, and even solve math equations for a prize with the help of 140 exhibitors - each hoping to spark an interest in STEAM careers.
"When you have an activity like this, it really does allow students to not only have a lot of fun but to learn about the plants, we want to save different plants that are in our state and getting awareness about it so doing something fun gets students really actively involved," says exhibitor Nikki Parton.
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Her station allowed kids to color images of South Carolina native plants that are going extinct - one of which is the black-spored quillwort.
"They actually have the ability to live in small holes in quarry sites, and they create just small micro-ecosystems," said Daphane Cuadrado-Andino who was working alongside Parton.
"It's brought great projects to expose the kids for educational needs, for the STEM projects, and I think it's amazing because it really feeds into what my son likes," Sarah Kirsh said. "He loves to build and design, so I think it's great."
"All the businesses and companies locally, and even outside of our surrounding area, have come and brought great projects," Kirsh added.
"This shows to me that Sumter is moving ahead, that South Carolina is moving ahead," said another exhibitor, Dr. Joy Obidike.