STEM3 Academy Announces First Annual ‘Very Special Innovation Fair’

STEM3 Academy, the first STEM school focused on young people with special needs, announces its Very Special Innovation Fair – equal parts science fair, high-tech exhibition, art show, and community carnival. The free event will be a family-friendly showcase of talent, imagination, and discovery from young STEM enthusiasts, as well as some of the region’s innovative companies.

Inspired in part by the Maker Movement, the event will have specific areas geared toward grade school, middle school, and high school ages and interests. In each area, there will be interactive opportunities for young people and families to build things, get involved in experiments and demonstrations, and take various gadgets for a ‘test drive.’

The Very Special Innovation Fair will allow hundreds of attendees to have a first-person experience in a range of STEM-related fields, including rocketry, robotics, 3D printing and production, virtual reality, and others. There will also be food and giveaways.

The school is hosting the fair to help people learn about the exciting things happening in STEM and how it is playing an increasing role in fields as diverse as manufacturing, medicine, design, and entertainment, among others.

“By 2018, there will be more than 8.65 million STEM jobs in nearly every industry you could possibly imagine,” said Dr. Ellis Crasnow, director of STEM3 Academy. “Technology is progressing every day, and the Very Special Innovation Fair is a way for us to show how that evolution is changing the face of both traditional and developing industries.”

Produced by STEM3 Academy, a pioneering school that serves children and young people who are passionate about STEM topics and benefit from more individualized educational instruction due to social and learning differences, the Very Special Innovation Fair will also show people how science, technology, math, and engineering impacts its students’ day-to-day activities.

“STEM3 Academy is transforming students’ lives and helping them find their passion,” said Dr. Susan Berman, COO of The Help Group. “This event is a chance for the community to see what is happening in STEM and how our young students are preparing to take these areas to an exciting new level in the future.”

STEM3 Academy takes the particular strengths of students with social and learning differences and connects them with a STEM curriculum that expands their life options and positions them for lifelong success. The school offers distinct tracks for middle and upper school with elementary school opening this fall. STEM3 Academy is the newest school operated by The Help Group, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to serving children, adolescents and young adults with special needs.

The Very Special Innovation Fair will take place Saturday, May 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the STEM3 Academy campus (6455 Coldwater Canyon, Valley Glen). For more information on attending, sponsoring, or exhibiting at the Very Special Innovation Fair, contact Melissa Spraul at The Help Group at mspraul@thehelpgroup.org or (818) 779-5219.

About STEM3 Academy

STEM3 Academy is designed to prepare students with social or learning differences for meaningful careers in a wealth of fields, such as engineering, cyber-security, biomedical, coding, game development, accounting, web design and IT. A model school that infuses social and cognitive 21st century skills (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity) into a project-based curriculum, STEM3 Academy is an entirely new educational model for students with these needs. Program features include an Innovation Lab and Maker’s Space with various resources for building and making; internships and job skills development through partnerships with business and industry; senior projects geared towards developing new solutions to real-world issues; and resources and counseling for college prep. More information on the school can be found at www.STEM3Academy.org.

About The Help Group

Founded in 1975, The Help Group is the largest, most innovative and comprehensive nonprofit of its kind in the United States serving children, adolescents, and young adults with special needs related to autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, ADHD, developmental delays, abuse and emotional problems. The Help Group’s ten specialized day schools offer pre-K through high school programs for more than 1,600 students. Its broad range of mental health and therapy services, child abuse and residential programs extends its reach to more than 6,000 children and their families each year. More information is available at www.thehelpgroup.org.