Take Our Kids to Work Day affirms Ball’s commitment to STEM

By Clarissa Davies

Take Our Kids to Work Day is a national event that Ball Aerospace introduced as an annual company event in 2002. Employees bring their children onsite to explore activity tables and demos staffed by volunteer Ball engineers, scientists, technicians and other specialists. The fun areas focus on recent missions, launches and related science topics such as infrared energy and air pressure, and career fields such as cybersecurity and environmental engineering.

The event gives employees a chance to show their children, grandchildren and other young relatives a glimpse of where they work, what they do and what we do. It informs and inspires both kids and adults – and reinforces Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education within families.

“Take Our Kids to Work Day gives our employees a chance to show their families some of the wonderful projects we work on here at Ball Aerospace. My daughter, Haley, has been coming to this event since she was 2 and she is now 22,” said employee Julie Hurt. “She helps me with different hands-on activities that we have for the kids. This is so rewarding for me to see her grow up knowing what kind of work that I and others do. This is also a chance for me to get to see employees’ families that I have worked with for over 25 years.”

Whether employees work from home or on campus, their kids are curious about what they do every day. This event offers important and memorable teachable moments, and there’s no better time for our employees to share work experiences and for kids to explore a potential future in a STEM field.
“Our two boys have been asking me for the last year if we were going to have Take Our Kids to Work Day on campus this year. They were really excited to hear they can come and visit again this year,” said Ball employee Alan Enos. “This event is a wonderful part of our company culture and truly inspires the next generation of scientists and engineers.”

Our long-standing commitment to our employees and to community outreach drives this beloved company event every year.

Ball’s STEM commitment

Ball Aerospace’s commitment to STEM is not limited to the general community; it personally extends to our employees and their families with a STEM education opportunity offered exclusively for them through Take Our Kids to Work Day. The interactions with Ball employees provide real-life role models for the kids – one of the most powerful ways of prompting them to consider technical careers for themselves.

Interested in bringing STEM excitement to a classroom, scout troop or summer camp? Connect with our outreach team using the forms at the bottom of the STEM Outreach page!