For the second year in a row, the Storytelling Institute sponsored and participated in the Finding F.R.E.D. STEAM Hackathon. 160 participants in 28 teams competed this year, supported by over 30 volunteers, 13 of whom served as storytelling mentors. The storytelling mentors included current students, graduates, adjunct faculty, and community members.
Teams first create a story and then build a cause-and-effect machine that illustrates the story. Last year, two of our graduates, Chantel Freed and Mario Avent designed the story part of the experience, which included creating 26 biographies of scientists that teams would use in the creation of the stories that inform their cause-and-effect machines. 
Dr. Shawn Jordan, Interim Director of the School of Integrated Engineering at ASU West, is the primary organizer of this event. SMCC has been working with Shawn for years and he has taken several storytelling classes and spent half of his sabbatical teaching and working in the Storytelling Institute three years ago.
Chantel and Mario have worked with him on behalf of the institute for many years to conduct story-based engineering summer camps. Our partnership with Shawn and ASU through these events is powerful for the institute and the college and one we will continue to cultivate.
