The 12th annual California STEAM Symposium took place Feb. 7-8 in San Diego, welcoming over 1,200 educators from across the world. Participants came together to explore strategies that promote lifelong learning for educators and their students through inclusive practices, STEAM resources and policies.

The STEAM Symposium is an annual gathering of TK-12 educators, higher education professionals, nonprofit and community-based organizations, and STEAM industry business partners. Attendees selected from the over 200 breakout sessions. These sessions were focused on the theme “You Belong In STEAM” and included an exploration of connecting instruction to real-world challenges through cross-content work to help students feel safe, known, supported and fully engaged in learning.

The event’s keynote speakers were Curtis Carmichael, a previous classroom teacher and scholar, and Maynard Okereke, also known as the Hip Hop MD. Carmichael tied his upbringing in a low-income community with his passion for STEAM education and advocacy. Okereke emphasized the event’s theme by sharing his professional trajectory and current work that bridges the arts and sciences.

Attendees also explored the event’s Expo Hall for the latest education resources. On the conference’s second day, they enjoyed the event’s STEAM Student Showcase, in which over 100 students, teachers, and families presented STEAM projects. Demonstrations included the integration of robotics, cybersecurity, and physical computing projects along with hands-on activities showcasing web, game and app development.

Dozens of peer-led breakout sessions focused on trends and concepts in computer science as part of the Winter of CS at the STEAM Symposium. The Winter of CS is a part of the Seasons of CS program. It is a research-backed, year-round Computer Science professional learning program intended to support educators across grade spans and disciplines by integrating CS in their classrooms. It is funded by the California Department of Education through the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) in Computer Science. To learn more about the Seasons of CS, visit seasonsofcs.org.

The California STEAM Symposium was co-hosted by the California Commission on the Status of Women, the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, and the CDE. For more information, visit steamcalifornia.org.