NAS OCEANA, Virginia – The demonstration of homemade remote-controlled robots is just one of two dozen exhibits at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.

The 8th Annual STEM Day is the event that kicks off the Oceana Naval Air Show this weekend. Gabby is a high school student in the International Baccalaureate Program. She helps show the younger students how robotic balls work.

“So you use these tablets and you just move them around. They’re pretty hard to move though. And you can make sure this one is yours by changing the different colors and it’ll show up right there,” Gabby said.

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With many pilots on hand to interact with students, the next Blue Angel pilot could be right here among the eight thousand fifth graders who have come to the naval base.

“Everyone from NASA to the United States Naval Academy to the Virginia Department of Transportation is here with exhibits. There’s a lot of hands-on experience for the fifth-graders from Chesapeake and Virginia Beach public schools who are visiting us,” said Captain Josh Appezzato, commander of NAS Oceana.

Some of the students are already thinking about a career in the STEM field.

“I want to be a surgeon with a pilot group, most likely the Blue Angels,” says Lyla, a fifth-grader at Star of the Sea School.

At the end of their visit, the students were able to watch the Blue Angels do some practice runs.

A great way to end a fun day while planting a STEM seed that could one day develop into a career.

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