St. Kate's students, faculty, and staff at the sports clinic.
Photos courtesy of Lindsay Madryga and D'Ann Urbaniak Lesch
On Wednesday, October 22, in partnership with Minnesota United FC and the nonprofit Athletes Committed to Educating Students (ACES), and sponsored by Xcel Energy, St. Catherine University facilitated a 2 ½ -hour STEM sports clinic for 100 youth at the National Sports Center’s Sports Hall in Blaine, Minnesota.
Exercise science undergraduate students teamed up with physical therapy while math and physics faculty worked together, and biology, nutrition, and occupational therapy faculty and students led their own stations.
The stations were uniquely developed by faculty and most were co-led by students. Youth in groups of 20 visited each station for 20 minutes, engaging in interactive activities including smoothie-making, vertical jumps, depth perception activities, sweat gland learning, and more.
A big hit of the event — alongside the learning — was St. Kate’s very own Katie Cat mascot, making their way around the field, participating in the activities, signing autographs, and taking photos with the kids. Katie Cat joined the Loons’ mascot, PK, who also delighted the young fans. Though the Minnesota United team were in the midst of preparing for playoffs, goalkeeper Alec Smir was able to join the event, and shared with the participants that his degree is in data science, and he uses math every day in his goalie work!
Each participant was given a workbook, with lesson plans created by St. Kate’s faculty, and takeaways for the kids to share with their families. They also received swag bags with items from St. Kate’s, MN United FC, and Xcel Energy.
“I had a lot of fun at the MNUFC event!” said Madalynn Long ’26, a dietetics student. “It was great to be able to attend and learn more about working with kids in a sports nutrition setting.”
Joshua D. Guggenheimer, PhD, associate professor and program director of exercise and sport sciences, was one of the faculty members who took part in the event. "It was really great to see near-peer mentoring in action,” Guggenheimer said. “It's really validating to see kids having fun, especially when that fun may lead these kids to careers in various STEM fields. Science is fun! And the more we can help kids recognize this fact, the better we can support them in the pursuit of STEM-related activities in the future."
“We’re deeply grateful to the incredible staff, faculty, and students at St. Kate’s for helping bring STEM to life in such creative and inspiring ways — connecting science and soccer together,” said Jen Winterfeldt, director of community relations at MN United FC. “Their passion, creativity, and commitment to community made our first-ever Minnesota United STEM Day event an engaging experience that sparked curiosity and playfulness for young learners.”
"The STEM Day event facilitated by St. Kate's faculty and students really brought to life how soccer, math, and science connect,” agreed Kelley Munson, director of strategic partnerships and program development at ACES. “The ACES youth had so much fun going through the different stations that were interactive and deepened knowledge. The youth were overheard sharing their different results, like how high they jumped for the vertical jump test. We are appreciative of the time, passion, and knowledge that the faculty and students brought to the event. One youth said it was the best day of their life! Thank you, St. Kate's!"
This interdisciplinary collaboration was supported by D’Ann Urbaniak Lesch, assistant vice president for engaged learning and employer & community partnerships, and was developed and lead by faculty members Rob Salgado, PhD, associate professor of physics; Megan Baumler, PhD, associate professor of nutrition; Steve Elmer, PhD, associate professor of physical therapy; Alex Yuschik, PhD, assistant professor of mathematics; Darla Coss, OTD, associate professor of occupational therapy; Tamil McDonald, PhD, associate professor of biology; Josh Guggenheimer, PhD, associate professor of exercise and sport science. The St. Kate’s athletics department also contributed. The planning and event itself brought together faculty and students from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences and the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health Sciences as well as the College for Women and Graduate College.
St. Kate’s looks forward to future opportunities for community-based engaged learning through partnerships with Minnesota United and ACES.