I have been working with students in middle school, high school, and college. I started working with students in 5th grade several years ago in the Spring Grove Elementary School, Richmond Grade School, and Nippersink Middle School through a Southwest Airlines sponsored event called Adopt-A-Pilot.  In my first 2 years I became aware of the lack of hands on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, +C) within our schools curriculum. At that time, one of the popular STEM activities was building and launching a “Near Space Balloon”, which I turned into a program for students in 5th grade.  This program became an overwhelming success in our small town of Spring Grove, IL.  It was at about that point that STEM+C was founded.  I included “+C” because I feel creativity is as important as the other 4 areas. I aspire to elevate our students’ grasp of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. As much as I value those subjects, I also value art and creativity. That’s why I call my little company STEM+C.  I think artists, engineers, scientists, musicians, writers, and performers all share the same basic artistic, creative part of our brains. Each one of those professions uses the creative part of their brain for a different discipline or interest. The creative part of my brain likes to inspire the next generation through hands-on learning projects like “Project Blackbird”, or through “Strato Journey”.  My personal goal with STEM+C is to bring real life project-based learning experiences to our kids. To get them excited about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.