A California Kiwanis club inspires students to pursue their dream careers in the sciences and arts
By Erin Chandler
On September 28, 2024, the gymnasium of Diamond Bar High School in California, U.S., was science and technology central, with robotics and 3D printing demonstrations, drones, introductions to coding and more. Outside were performances from bands, the local Hawaiian School and a K-Pop dance cover crew. Booths from organizations like Mathnasium, the Society of Women Engineers, the Department of Public Works, and Curtiss-Wright Nuclear stood alongside those from the LA County Library and the Literacy Guild.
The Kiwanis Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals’ second annual STEAM Fair was a true celebration of science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.
“I always stress STEAM,” says club president Roseangeli Ayson. “Because the ‘A,’ the arts, are just as important, and I think a lot of time people lose sight of that. I just think it makes the world better when all of those aspects are embraced.”
Clearly, the community agrees. Hundreds of kids flocked to the book giveaway; the reading/Lego corner; the stations for making bookmarks, slime and K-Pop photocards; the poetry readings; the face painting; and the sessions on professional development and college applications.
The event, Ayson says, is all about “exposing the kids to things that are of interest to them and sparking their creativity.”
A big idea
Only a few years ago, the project seemed impossible. The club was about six years old and had fewer than 20 members.
“It was one of those things, like, ‘Maybe in the future that could be something,’” Ayson says. “‘One day when the club gets bigger.’”
Then, at a fundraising event, she was introduced to Gabe Aguilar, now an instructional dean at Diamond Bar High School and advisor for the school’s robotics club, Team Sprocket. Once they agreed that Team Sprocket would cohost the event, with the high school serving as a free venue, the whole endeavor seemed much more possible.
In the end, the first STEAM Fair came together in just six months. Members of the Kiwans Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals called on family, college friends and coworkers to serve on the professional panels.
Students step up
The real stars of the event were the high school students from Team Sprocket and other school clubs, plus members of Key Club Divisions 35 East and 35 West, and the Kiwin’s Goldstone Division of the Kiwanis California-Nevada-Hawaii District.
“A lot of times, we can’t hold our events without SLPs [Service Leadership Programs],” Ayson says. “I don’t have 50-60 Kiwanians to help me pull it off.”
The STEAM Fair offers its student volunteers all kinds of opportunities to grow as leaders. In the STEAM Fair’s second year, Ayson says, the students even joined the Kiwanians as leaders in organizing the project.
“With another year under their belt, some of the juniors, who are seniors this year, were a lot more involved in the planning, which is, I think, probably why the gym was better coordinated and had a lot more activities than last year.”
Among the new activities was a gallery of art made by local middle school students, a collaboration that highlighted another benefit of having Key Club members volunteer at events. They don’t just develop their own leadership skills — they also inspire younger attendees to follow in their footsteps.
“When the kids come and they see all the high schoolers helping out, it’s more fun,” Ayson says. “They’re a lot more interactive than us old-fogey Kiwanians.”
Inspiration and connection
Ayson made sure to leave time in the teen volunteers’ shifts to enjoy the booths, performances and panels that interested them. While most of the STEAM Fair targets younger children who are still discovering their interests, it also offers career panels for high school students.
For some students, the fair was a chance to find mentors from their own communities who had “made good” in their chosen fields. For others, it was an opportunity for networking. One Key Club member who performed at the fair was scouted by a Friends of the Library board member to sing the national anthem at their annual toy drive.
Another student approached Ayson after a career panel that featured Academy Award-winning documentary director Martin Desmond Rowe and an author who had written about how to make money in a creative career. The student said she had been struggling with whether she could pursue her interest in photography professionally, but after the panel she felt more confident.
“Even if it was just that one person, we helped her see that her dream actually could happen,” Ayson says.
Looking to the future
After its first year, the Kiwanis Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals’ STEAM Fair was a top 10 finalist in the Kiwanis International Signature Project Contest and received a club grant from the Kiwanis Children’s Fund. For other clubs looking to host similar events, Ayson recommends partnering with local high schools and extracurricular clubs.
Because the students are interested in and impacted by what the fair represents, Ayson says, “you get the buy-in right away.”
Ayson hopes to get a panelist from the Grammy Museum next year. The past two years have taught her that when the members want to do something, they can make it happen.
“We’re a small club,” she says, “but I feel like we’re a small-but-mighty club.”
How you can help
If you want to support projects like the Kiwanis Club of Diamond Bar Young Professionals’ STEAM Fair, you can make a gift in support of The Possibilty Project.
The Kiwanis Children’s Fund makes grants that improve the lives of children around the world by identifying projects that create a continuum of impact in a child’s life — one that spans their entire childhood and sets them up for a bright future. Through The Possibility Project, the Children’s Fund ensures that its grantmaking has the greatest possible impact, supporting projects that target the Kiwanis causes — health and nutrition, education and literacy, and youth leadership development — whether through a Kiwanis club’s local service project or a club’s partner.
Learn how your club can apply for a grant to help kids in your community.