A December 2025 Kids Go STEM event on the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine campus attracted 138 students from 21 Iowa counties.

Story, photography, and videography: UI Health Care Marketing and Communications
Published: Dec. 31, 2025
 

Kids Go STEM, a free program that aims to spark middle schoolers’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and math, gives kids the chance to explore hands-on activities with real scientists and health care professionals.

Fun, interactive sessions on chemistry, physics, neuroscience, and orthopedics — just to name a few — helped students see what day-to-day life in these careers might look like, and where their own strengths and interests could lead them in the future.

Nearly 50 University of Iowa students and faculty from a variety of colleges volunteered their time to host 15 breakout sessions.

“This program was designed for students in middle school, a pivotal stage when they begin to narrow down their future interests and can guide their selection of high school courses,” says Emily Hagedorn, administrator of STEM education programming. "We’ve seen thousands of kids come through who didn’t have health care role models at home, and this gives them that first spark.”

Kids Go STEM is just one of the events the UI Health Care STEM education program hosts to engage with Iowa students. Between July 2024 and June 2025 alone, the programs reached 24,508 students from 35 Iowa counties, with 37 programs targeting rural or underrepresented groups.

UI Health Care’s STEM programming will expand in 2026 with the addition of Teens Go STEM, a free career exploration event scheduled for March 7. Students in grades 9 through 12 will join medical and health sciences students and professionals from the University of Iowa for hands-on simulations and activities focused on health care skills, innovations in health care, critical issues impacting Iowa’s health, pursuing a career in health care, and health literacy.

Parents or chaperones will have special access to presentations from University of Iowa experts on academic preparation, adolescent health, and more.

200K

students, many from rural or underrepresented groups in Iowa

have engaged with UI Health Care STEM education programs since 2012

"We’ve seen thousands of kids come through who didn’t have health care role models at home, and this gives them that first spark.”

Emily Hagedorn
Carver College of Medicine administrator of STEM education programming

Kids Go STEM

hands holding two halves of a heart model
a woman gives a presentation on careers in neuroscience to middle school students at a Kids Go STEM event
middle school students are shown a model at a Kids Go STEM event
students watch an experiment at a Kids Go STEM event
students watch an demonstration at a Kids Go STEM event
a student holds an organ model at a Kids Go STEM event
students listen to a presentation at a Kids Go STEM event
two students work on casting materials at a Kids Go STEM event
bone models lie on a table at a Kids Go STEM event
students participate in an experiment at a Kids Go STEM event
a student participates in a demonstration with a model infant patient at a Kids Go STEM event
students participate in a demonstration at a Kids Go STEM event

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UI Health Care offers numerous STEM education programs and opportunities

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