AKRON—One day can change the world for a high school or middle school student. A single day to inspire, create and learn can provide the courage to follow a career path that fits their talents.
For 20 years, Goodyear has been creating those kinds of days with its annual STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Career Day events. Designed for high school and middle school students, the events are intended to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, while giving them the chance to explore careers in related fields.
"All of us at Goodyear take great pride in our long history of encouraging young people to pursue careers in the STEM fields, which are core to our business and our ability to continually innovate our products and services," Chris Helsel, senior vice president and chief technology officer, said in a statement. "Our outstanding STEM professionals of today are dedicated to inspiring and motivating the STEM professionals of tomorrow."
Goodyear hosts two STEM Career Day events, partnering with the University of Akron and the Akron Public Schools.
The first attracts about 500 high school students to the University of Akron each year. This year's STEM Career Day event for high school students will be from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 6 at UA.
Throughout the free-roaming expo-style event, students will have the opportunity to meet with local professionals, talk with UA students and professors, and tour the campus. A Rube Goldberg Challenge will give students the chance to compete for grant awards.
The middle school event, hosted at Firestone Community Learning Center, draws roughly 1,000 students each year, and will be held 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 4. During this time students can attend a career fair, participate in hands-on learning opportunities with local organizations and work together on a group activity.
More information about both events can found at goodyear.com/careerday.
The first STEM education event hosted by Goodyear in 1999 was intended to inspire female middle and high school students considering careers in math- and science-related fields. Roughly 300 attended that first event to meet with professionals and learn more about engineering disciplines.
Goodyear expanded the event in 2012 to include male students and gave it the Goodyear Engineering Career Day moniker. Three years later, the event grew to include all the fields of STEM.
In 2018, Goodyear extended its STEM education focus with an event in Luxembourg modeled after the Rube Goldberg Machine component of the U.S. career day event. There, attendees ages 14 to 21 were challenged to move a load of model tires with an inflatable Goodyear Blimp during the December program. The top 10 teams are scheduled to demonstrate their machines for final judging in July.
Goodyear employees host workshops during the bi-annual Luxembourg Science Festival, promoting science and research to hundreds of participating students.