The Center for Gifted Studies

The seventh annual IdeaFestival Bowling Green took place at Western Kentucky University on February 11. Hosted by The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU, this year’s festival drew over 750 middle and high school students from 20 school districts in Kentucky. The morning speaker sessions and afternoon minds-on, hands-on activities focused on the theme of “Land and Legacy: Building Ideas That Will Last.”

Photos from the event can be found at: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmLmPSey.

A news story from WNKY can be watched here. A story from the Bowling Green Daily News can be viewed here.

To replay the event livestream, visit here.

Speakers included Kellyn LaCour-Conant, coastal resources scientist for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana; Timothy Kercheville, farm manager at the International Center of Kentucky; Shelby Rader, assistant research scientist in geochemistry at Indiana University; Samantha Fore, chef/owner of Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites; Gerry Seavo James, founder of the Explore Kentucky Initiative and the Waterman Series; and Larah Helayne, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and activist.

The festival also included an afternoon of minds-on, hands-on activities at the Downing Student Union with dozens of stations by the Warren County Public Library Idea Lab, the Kentucky Science Center, the American Printing House for the Blind, the Bioambassadors of the WKU Department of Biology, the Warren County Beekeepers, WKU’s SKyTeach, and the WKU Small Business Accelerator among many others.

Major Sponsor for the festival was Vid Monster Productions, which filmed and live streamed the event. Supporting sponsors were AT&T and the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky was a contributing sponsor.                             

Created in agreement with IdeaFestival^®, IdeaFestival Bowling Green’s motto is “Just Imagine,” and its mission is to inspire the next generation of creators, thinkers, and innovators in our region.

More information can be found at wku.edu/gifted/ideafestivalbg or by contacting Erika Solberg at erika.solberg@wku.edu or (270) 745-3015.