WKU News

Bowling Green, KY — The seventh annual IdeaFestival Bowling Green will be held in the Van Meter Auditorium and Downing Student Union at Western Kentucky University on February 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CST. Hosted by The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU, this year’s festival will draw over 750 middle and high school students from 20 school districts in Kentucky. The morning speaker sessions and afternoon minds-on, hands-on activities will focus on the theme of “Land and Legacy: Building Ideas That Will Last.” The event is currently sold out to school groups, but WKU students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend the morning speaker sessions at a reduced ticket price of $5. Media are also invited to cover the event.

WKU alumnus Brett Riley will emcee the morning speaker sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. in Van Meter Auditorium. The audience will listen to talks by innovators in a wide range of fields and have a chance to ask questions. These speaker sessions will also be available through a live stream filmed by Vid Monster Productions and available on Facebook at @ideafestivalbg.

The first speaker session, Re-Imagining Our Relationship to the Land, will include 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; and Shelby Rader, assistant research scientist in geochemistry at Indiana University.

The second session, How Ideas Become Legacies, will feature 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 includes an afternoon of minds-on, hands-on activities at the Downing Student Union from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Participants interested in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can visit stations created by the Warren County Public Library Idea Lab, the Kentucky Science Center, Jennifer Emberton of Franklin-Simpson Middle School, the American Printing House for the Blind, the Bioambassadors of the WKU Department of Biology, the Warren County Beekeepers, and Rico Tyler of WKU’s SKyTeach. The WKU Small Business Accelerator will provide 3D printing pens for participants to use as well.

Additionally, here will also be activities in the arts and creative thinking from local artist Andee Rudloff, WKU creative writing graduate student Caroline Sutphin, Scholastic National Student Poet Christian Butterfield, the WKU student graphic design association (AIGA), the WKU Printmaking Club, the WKU student branch of the National Dance Education Organization, the Happy Gas Improv Troupe, willow furniture maker Justin Roberts, Arts for All Kentucky, magician Steve Causey (“Mr. Magic”), clown Nick Wilkins (“Broadway the Clown”), and the WKU Intercultural Student Engagement Center’s Gallery.

Entrepreneurship activities will include an idea wall from the WKU Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization and a pitch contest from the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the WKU Gordon Ford College of Business.

Finally, participants will have the chance to chat with the festival’s speakers one-on-one.

Major Sponsor for the festival is Vid Monster Productions, which will be filming and live streaming the event. Supporting sponsors are AT&T and the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky is 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.