The national CSTEM kickoff on Saturday at Bladensburg High School brought out county educators, parents and over 73 students.

CSTEM, which stands for Communication, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is a program that prepares children for careers in those fields.

Stacey Montgomery, the media specialist at William Wirt Middle School, said Saturday's event allowed students to learn about the national CSTEM challenge, which will be held on April 16 in Houston, Tex.

Thousands of students nationally participated in Saturday's event remotely in the opening ceremonies, expert panel discussion, CSTEM kit distribution, and feeder pattern team planning.

Montgomery said this year the theme surrounds sea turtles and that everyone's an artist and an engineer.

Students will work in teams to build a robot that can plug a valve, similar to the work surrounding the Gulf Oil Spill. They will also work to write a pop-up storybook about environmental impacts, create a mural, develop a green community and create a GIS, or a geographic information system.

"There are about 35 students from William Wirt that already signed up and I get new applications daily," she said. "Port Towns Elementary has 60 students signed up."

Montgomery said students are also involved from Bladensburg High School.

She said students work in school and will meet monthly with clusters to work on CSTEM projects as well.

For more information on CSTEM, check out their website at www.CSTEM.org.