WC Missouri News

Whiteman Air Force Base hosted the inaugural 2024 Wings Over Whiteman STEM Fest on July 12, 2024, as a prelude to the 2024 WOW Air Show. The event aimed to promote creativity, critical thinking, and a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among students from elementary to high school levels.

“The goal is to inspire and encourage young scholars to pursue classes, elective courses and eventually degrees in the STEM fields,” said Janice Scott, Whiteman AFB school liaison program manager. “STEM is critical to operational missions and roles across the Air Force from civil engineers to pilots.”

Open to the public, the festival provided children and their parents an opportunity to view various presentations throughout the day and engage with different STEM organizations.

“It was exciting to have the opportunity to include the public,” said Scott. “I love sharing all the wonderful things that Whiteman AFB has to offer with a group that doesn’t always have access to the base.”

The event featured aircraft static displays such as the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and MQ-9 Reaper. Additionally, there were 60 exhibitors and numerous volunteers from Team Whiteman.

“It’s really fun and exciting. We really enjoyed the robots,” said Amanda Killingsworth, who attended with her son. ”He loved it all.”

Scott expressed satisfaction with how the event turned out but noted she would apply lessons learned from this first STEM Fest to improve future events.