HOUGHTON – A few families have been known to follow Family Science and Engineering Night from school to school, says organizer John Chadde. But for most residents of the region, it’s a once-a-year opportunity, so she and her presenters try to make it special.

“If you’re passionate and enthusiastic, that’s contagious. It creates a memory for kids,” said Chadde, education director for the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics & Environmental Education.

It can be rewarding, added veteran presenter Marcy Erickson, especially when she overhears excited kids talking to each other about what they’re learning.

Teaching on science night can also offer lessons for the presenters, said Michael Baskins, a Michigan Tech student who enjoys the kids but plans to make his career in engineering. Explaining complex engineering concepts to kids, he said, isn’t all that different from communicating with non-engineers he expects to deal with in the corporate world.

“This helps me to break down a complex system more easily than before,” he said. “Describing things to people who are non-technical is very important for engineers in dealing with management.”

He also enjoys the teaching for its own sake, he added, particularly watching the kids to see which are particularly proactive in designing, building and improving the cotton-ball mini-catapults at the heart of his activity.

“You can see the engineers of the future,” he said.