Next week, budding young scientists from around the state will gather to show off their skills in everything from robotics to rocketry as part of an event aimed at shining a spotlight on innovative opportunities for science learning.

Organizers are also hoping that the first-ever "STEM Week" will bring attention to the need to beef up science education in schools and attract more students to fields in the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and math.

At the three-day event, which will run concurrently with the 55th annual Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair, schools with robust STEM programs will be recognized and students will get a chance to connect with peers from other schools, along with industry professionals and potential employers.

It is hoped teachers, too, will benefit from the event, said Kerry Kakazu, president and CEO of the Hawaii Academy of Science, which puts on the science fair and is a lead organizer for STEM Week. He said teachers from all over will get a chance to talk to one another about how they’re expanding their programs and what inventive ideas they have for teaching STEM.

"The whole idea of STEM, it really is an interdisciplinary push," he said.

In recent years, Hawaii public and private schools have seen significant growth in what have mostly been extracurricular science programs, such as robotics and the Science Olympiad. Both programs are expected to have strong showings of students at the Hawai‘i Convention Center for STEM Week.

"Everybody is going to be under the same roof at the same time," said Franklin Alaire, Hawaii Science Olympiad state director.

Alaire said about 1,200 students from 70 teams participated in this year’s Hawaii Science Olympiad tournaments, which require students to show off their skills in a wide variety of fields. The year before, 48 teams participated.

Alaire, a science teacher at Kalani High School, said the greatest benefit of programs like robotics or Science Olympiad is that the learning is hands-on, giving students an opportunity to see how science is relevant.

Participation in this year’s science fair is about the same as in 2011, with about 500 projects from 76 public and private schools.

STEM Week comes as the Department of Education is looking to enhance STEM instruction and get more students interested in STEM fields. While extracurricular STEM programs have seen growth in recent years, Hawaii students overall continue to score poorly on the state’s annual science assessment. Last year, just 22 percent of 10th-graders and 26 percent of eighth-graders tested proficient. Some 43 percent of fourth-graders tested proficient.