Support science for our future. Make a gift to the Science Center’s Curiosity Fund to help support STEM education programs like Youth Exploring Science.
Each summer, the Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program makes an impact on STEM education by turning outward with the program’s YES Teens to deliver fun and accessible STEM learning experiences throughout the St. Louis community to inspire a curiosity for science and technology.
At the Taylor Community Science Resource Center this summer, the YES Teens welcomed young members of the community from the Science Center’s network of community partners to go hands-on with activities and experiences around aerospace. This year’s Summertime Science program served over 1,100 kids and over 140 adult supervisors.
Check out our YES Summertime Recap video on YouTube here.
The YES Teens led and instructed the kids through activities like building their own paper airplanes, improving on their designs, and then participating in a contest to see whose plane could fly the farthest. The teens also made songs and chants to help teach some of the science involved in flight, including a song, “Up Up and Away,” which taught kids about force and drag.
In addition to inspiring a curiosity for STEM in the community, one of the goals of the Summertime Science program each year is to help the newer YES Teens develop many of the fundamental skills they’ll hone over the course of the four-year program—skills like leadership, collaboration, workplace fundamentals, and more.
“From the beginning of summer until now, I’ve seen improvements with every teen,” says Amiee More, Manager of YES’s Integrative Medicine & Well-Being component. “It’s inspiring to watch the teens grow through challenges and try new things. I’m starting to see leadership skills develop with the teens, and I’m proud of the way they’re communicating with each other and with staff.”
Asked about a standout memory from the summer, More shared, “We had a competition over the teens’ classroom welcome, intro, and content songs. It was fun to see the teens working together, supporting one another, and clapping along while each group performed.”
Show your support for the YES Program.
Generous charitable gifts to the Science Center’s Curiosity Fund help support impactful STEM education programs like Youth Exploring Science.
For 25 years the Science Center’s YES Program has created a legacy of success by working with teens from underserved St. Louis neighborhoods throughout the teens’ high school years to help prepare them for the in-demand STEM careers of the future. STEM programming delivered by the YES Teens at the Science Center and in collaboration with the Science Center’s 60+ community partner organizations typically connects thousands of St. Louis community members with STEM learning each year.
Make a gift to the Curiosity Fund and help inspire the next generation of YES Teens.
Your Support
Support from donors, Science Center members, and Supporting-level members is instrumental in helping the Science Center continue offering connections to science for everyone in our region. If you’d like to show additional support for our mission, please consider donating to the Science Center’s Annual Fund, becoming a member, or becoming a Supporting-level member.
Your Impact
Want to learn more about how the Science Center and its supporters are making a difference for STEAM learning in the St. Louis region?
