This year marks the Portland Public Schools 10^th Annual STEM Expo, which PPS puts on each year in partnership with EnviroLogix.

The STEM Expo features exhibits put on by PPS students, local businesses, postsecondary schools and other organizations. It’s a way to showcase the STEM learning occurring in Portland Public Schools’ classrooms. The Expo also expands students’ STEM knowledge and exposes them to exciting career opportunities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

The STEM Expo will look different in 2024, according to PPS community coordinator Tina Mikkelsen, who co-organizes the event each year with community coordinator Kathy Cole, with aid from EnviroLogix. “We have taken teacher feedback and arranged these events to reflect what we heard from PPS staff who attended last year,” Mikkelsen said.

Once again there will be three events: Portland High School will kick off the STEM Expo on March 22, hosting the event from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The other schools invited to attend are King Middle School, Casco Bay High School, PATHS and Lyman Moore Middle school.

Brand new this year is an all-elementary-school STEM Expo (grades 3-5) at Talbot Community School on April 4 from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., Mikkelsen said. “This event has been planned to support the next gen science curriculum that we are using in our elementary schools,” she explained. “Exhibitors have been selected based on the topics of the science curriculum, in addition to having only our younger students in one place instead of spread across the district.”

Deering High School will host the final event, on April 5, from 8:40 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. The other schools invited are Lincoln Middle School, Casco Bay High School, PATHS and Lyman Moore Middle school.

The Portland Public Schools is very grateful to EnviroLogix, a Portland-based company that develops and manufactures innovative detection technology for every link in the worldwide food production chain, for their steadfast sponsorship of the annual STEM Expo.