MIT students bike to BG to teach STEM on 3,800 mile trip

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- Biking an average of 60 miles every day for 80 days…only stopping to rest and teach. 

“Oh my god it’s so hard. Right now I’m really sore,” said MIT student Simone Lassar. 

“I just think it’s amazing, they’re doing so much at once, stopping in so many towns,” said middle school student Ethan Brownslee. 

A group of six MIT students, called the MIT Spokes, are on a 3,800 mile cross country bike trip. 

“It was originally started as a goal of biking across the country while spreading STEM education along the way,” said MIT student Robert Henning. 

They stop in cities, like Bowling Green, to give stem workshops to middle school students. 

“I think it’s really cool that they’re doing that because us kids get to learn engineering and technology and everything that they’re learning at their school,” said middle school student Monica Leguizamon. 

“I think it’s exciting to be doing science. We’ve tried to make our workshops super hands on so you’re either doing something with your hands or you’re bringing something home with you so we’ve just tried to make the workshops as interactive as possible,” said Lassar. 

Some of the activities they learn include 3D printing, circuit breaking, solar cell energy, and the physics of music. 

The MIT Spokes hope to inspire the young kids and others with their journey .

“It’s something that maybe I would wanna do but 3,000 miles is a lot,” said middle school student Leah Johnson 

And Bowling Green’s hospitality industry stepped up and provided the students with a free stay at the Hyatt Place…how awesome!

MIT Spokes partnered with AccelerateKY to make the Bowling Green stop happen.