AspireED exhibits and teaches at North Bay Science Discovery Day in Santa Rosa

Alyssa Huang, Jasmine Angulo, Li Clayton, Nick Boas, and Marie Brodt teach students of all ages about brine shrimp, how to use a microscope, the science behind UV beads, the protective effects of sunscreen, and how invisible ink works.

How does AspireED's student team describe their experience at the North Bay Science Discovery Day on Saturday March 7, 2026? "Fun!" exclaimed Nick Boas. "Fun and BUSY," added Alyssa Huang. Festival managers documented 11,000 attendees at the event this year. AspireED's three activity booths had over 1,200 visitors in total and taught about 750 kids ranging from age 3-15.

"The event began at 10am and felt steady," said Alyssa, "But around 11am, families began pouring in."

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AspireED exhibited at the Garrett Pavillion, one of seven large hangar-type buildings at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

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Front Entrance to the Fair. Free Parking and Free Admission, with no tickets required. There were multiple food trucks on site, but attendees could bring in their own food and enjoy a nice, long day of learning.

AspireED's student team included 10 high school students from six different high schools across Marin and Sonoma Counties.

AspireED student exhibitors: Jasmine Angulo (Novato HS), Meerab Irfan (Novato HS), Corbin Tam (Petaluma HS), Li Clayton (Branson School), Alyssa Huang (Branson School), Marie Brodt (Maria Carrillo HS), Leila Al-Moose (Branson School), Nick Boas (Branson School). Not pictured: En-Yu Zhang (Terra Linda HS) and Scottie Barksdale (San Marin HS) from the afternoon shift.

AspireED student exhibitors hosted three science activities - (1) observing live brine shrimp under a microscope while teaching how a microscope works and how to use microscopes, (2) allowing kids to make bracelets and necklaces out of UV beads while teaching the science behind how those beads absorb ultraviolet radiation to change color and demonstrating how sunblock effectively blocks UV light, and (3) having the kids write secret messages in invisible ink and explaining the science behind the reveal.

"We also handed out 500 STEM kits which contained six at-home science activities for kids ages 4-10years old, along with instructions in both English and Spanish. We gave a STEM kit to each student who visited our booth, and completely ran out of STEM kits by 11:45am!"

"I was really proud how everyone on the team taught, changing their explanations depending on the students' ages. We also worked really well as a team, working in shifts so that everyone on our team had some time to explore than other 106 exhibits," said Alyssa. "The kids were amazing and so curious, and so fun to teach. It was a very positive experience to be an exhibitor."

Other exhibits included Medtronic, which exhibited directly across from AspireED. Medtronic allowed kids to dress up like a doctor and perform "interventional radiology" on a mannequin. Medtronic also had a make your own mini lava lamp and testing out nitinol heart stents in ice water and warm water. There were many interesting exhibits. "My other favorite exhibits included a petting zoo where I got to hold a baby goat, and the Zenni Optical booth, where we won blue light glasses as a prize for answering questions," said Alyssa.

Families won't have long to wait to experience science fun like this again. North Bay Science Discovery Day 2027 has already been set for Sun, May 2, 2027.