With nearly 100 science experiments and demonstrations, Mind Trekkers is an outreach initiative that is intended to impact and grow people’s involvement in STEM. This event will take place on Thursday, March 13, and Friday, March 14. Mind Trekkers Family Night will be from 6-8 pm Thursday, March 13 at San Jac’s Central campus LyondellBasell Center for Petrochemical, Energy, & Technology Building (Building C45).
Mind Trekkers feature immersive and exciting STEM demonstrations that are sure to provide incredible insight to all who attend. Mind Trekkers Family Night is open to all ages and free to the public.
Andrea Vasquez, San Jacinto College Manager of Strategic Initiative Projects, encourages anyone and everyone to enjoy the educational and entertaining experiences Mind Trekkers offers.
“Whether it’s the sixth graders attending on their school field trips or families coming out for our Family Night event, everyone can expect to have a fun experience with a variety of science activities. Make sure to sample the Liquid Nitrogen ice cream and stay and watch the super cool Liquid Nitrogen water explosion,” says Vasquez.
Along with entertainment and fun for the family, Mind Trekkers focuses on the community and education involving STEM.
“I think the most important thing about Mind Trekkers is the lasting educational impact it has on young students. I have met some of our current San Jac students who remember coming to Mind Trekkers as sixth graders, and some are now STEM majors. It’s awesome to see that come full circle. Mind Trekkers has a way of capturing their curiosity, and seeing STEM in action by getting to engage with the experiments with their friends encourages them to want to explore STEM education even more,” says Vasquez.
Mind Trekkers is very intentional in its pursuit, and even features industry partners who provide a great deal in making the event happen.
“The most unique thing about Mind Trekkers is our partnerships with our local industry partners who not only sponsor the event but also bring out their own volunteers to help facilitate the experiments along with San Jac students and employees. Our industry partners are such a huge part of this event, and they have always been our biggest supporters in ensuring we keep bringing things like Mind Trekkers to young students and our community. Their volunteers love being at the event and interacting with all the students and families,” says Vasquez.
Vasquez involvement with Mind Trekkers includes the planning of the immersive events.
“Prior to my role as Manager of Strategic Initiatives Projects, I attended some of the first Mind Trekkers events in 2015 and 2016 as one of the College’s communications coordinators to get photos of everything. Now, I get to plan and facilitate the actual event! It’s cool to see everything from this perspective and to see the students’ and families’ faces light up as they’re learning and having fun together. My favorite part about Mind Trekkers is seeing all of our student, employee, and industry volunteers coming together to put on such a great event for our local ISD students and community members,” says Vasquez.
For more information about the 2025 Mind Trekkers event visit https://www.sanjac.edu/information-for/community-members/mind-trekkers/or email [email protected] .
