Why Did No One Tell Me STEM Is Magical?

My Week at Science in the Rockies — and What I'm Bringing Back to Our Community

The Moment Everything Shifted

I want to tell you something no one warned me about before I left for Colorado last week.

STEM is magical.

I know — that sounds like something you'd see on a motivational poster in a school hallway. But I mean it in the most literal, hands-on, eyes-wide-open way possible. I spent a week at Science in the Rockies alongside educators from across the country, led by the one and only Steve Spangler, and I came home a different teacher than when I left.

Not because I learned a bunch of new facts. Because I experienced something.

**So What Is Science in the Rockies?**

Science in the Rockies is a national educator conference rooted in hands-on, discovery-based STEM learning. Think less lecture hall, more laboratory of wonder. Educators gather to experiment, ask questions, fail beautifully, and rediscover why curiosity is the most powerful tool in any classroom.
It is exactly the kind of professional development that reminds you teaching is not a job. It's a calling.
***What looks like play is actually so much more.***

What I Noticed About Myself

Here's what surprised me most: I was relaxed.

As a K-6 educator balancing a classroom, a growing business, and motherhood, relaxed is not always my default setting. But something about being immersed in the experience — surrounded by other educators who love learning as much as I do — created a kind of permission to just be present.

I was engaged. I was curious. I was determined to recreate every single thing I witnessed.

And somewhere in between the experiments and the conversations and the shared meals in the Rockies, I had a realization that felt almost too simple:

Teaching science isn't hard when you're focused on the solution.

We spend so much energy worrying about what we don't know, what supplies we don't have, what standards we haven't covered. But the students sitting in our classrooms don't need perfection. They need wonder. They need a teacher who is willing to try.

What I'm Bringing Back to UHE

My community deserves this kind of magic. My scholars are curious, capable, and ready for experiences that stretch beyond the textbook.

Here's what's coming:

Starting in July, I'll be launching the UHE STEM Newsletter — a monthly resource packed with hands-on activities, garden updates and photos, read-aloud recommendations, and community events. It's designed for educators and families alike, because STEM doesn't stop at the school door.

I'm also proposing a Thursday Afternoon STEM Camp — an afterschool program where students can get their hands dirty, ask big questions, and experience the same kind of discovery I just lived firsthand. More details coming soon as plans are confirmed.

And this week, I'm sharing some of my favorite highlights from Science in the Rockies on our Facebook page. I want to know which activity excites you most — because I'll send you a free downloadable resource to try it yourself.

One Last Thing

If you're an educator reading this and you've never attended a hands-on STEM conference, put it on your list. Not because you need to know more — but because you deserve to be reminded of why you started.

And if you're a family in our UHE community: your child's curiosity is one of the most powerful things in the world. Let's feed it together.

This isn't about the science. It's about the experience.