Mind Trekkers celebrates 50,000+ students reached
The awe on sixth graders’ faces spoke volumes. San Jacinto College’s 10th Mind Trekkers event March 5-6 allowed students to experience STEM with all five senses — from walking barefoot on oobleck and witnessing a liquid nitrogen explosion to piercing balloons with skewers.
Held at the Central Campus, the STEM outreach event has reached more than 51,000 youth since it started in 2015.
According to San Jac vice chancellor for strategic initiatives Dr. Allatia Harris, Mind Trekkers is “the largest, most highly anticipated STEM event” the College hosts annually to introduce youth to various STEM fields.
More than 100 experiments and activities happen thanks to a crew of San Jac employee and student volunteers, industry sponsors, and school district partners.
“Things are coming full circle now,” Harris said. “Some of our own San Jac students tell us they attended Mind Trekkers as sixth graders, and now they are volunteering as experiment facilitators.”
Participating in the daytime activities this year were approximately 4,200 sixth graders from Pasadena, Deer Park, La Porte, Clear Creek, Sheldon, Channelview, and Humble independent school districts, along with the Rhodes School for Performing Arts and First Baptist and Transformation Christian academies. A family night drew about 300 children and family members.
The 2026 event sponsors included...
- Arkema
- Chevron Pasadena Refinery
- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company
- Coastal Ice and Water
- Dow
- INEOS
- The Kaneka Foundation
- LyondellBasell
- OxyChem
Learn more about San Jac's STEM programs
About San Jacinto College
Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020 and 2026. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
