On Saturday, September 21, the Saint Louis Science Center held its first ever STL for All Day, welcoming Science Center members from the STL for All membership program for a morning exploring and experiencing all that the Science Center has to offer. The Science and Technology Learning (STL) for All membership program, which launched in 2023 in partnership with the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, currently offers approximately 500 households served by the Urban League a free Science Center membership. Over the coming years, the Science Center plans to continue growing the program with other community partner organizations, supporting the Science Center’s strategic pillars of Community Alignment and Equity and Inclusion.
STL for All Day served as a unique opportunity to welcome families to their Science Center with hands-on STEM activities, screenings of the OMNIMAX® Theater film Blue Whales, Esports programming, and more. Families could ask questions about how to use their membership benefits and, after the day’s scheduled activities, explore the rest of the Science Center. Members of the Science Center’s Institutional Advancement team, including Chief Institutional Advancement Officer Bobby Sanderson and Dr. Lamara Warren, Managing Director of DEAI, were on hand to greet families at the check-in table. There, attendees received a Science Center backpack before heading down to the multipurpose T-Rex Room for snacks, refreshments, and blue whale-themed activities.
Inside the T-Rex Room, STL for All members could try a hands-on activity using rosemary, tweezers, and fine-toothed combs to explore how blue whale teeth are suited to catching creatures like krill for food; visit a “conversation station” with a Science Center educator to learn and ask questions about blue whales; and grab an activity booklet with blue whale facts and a space to record thoughts and observations. In the nearby Dino Den, team members from the Science Center’s Esports Program held education sessions on topics like healthy gaming habits and the basics of video game design, as well as free play sessions.
Special thanks to Drury Hotels and Mastercard for their generous support of the STL for All membership program and helping us inspire everyone to be curious and engaged in science! See more photos from STL for All Day:
Want to support the Science Center’s impactful STEM learning programs? Make a gift to the Science Center’s Curiosity Fund here.
