Help us inspire a curiosity for STEM. Make a gift to the Science Center’s Curiosity Fund to help support STEM education programs in St. Louis.
The Saint Louis Science Center’s nationally recognized Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program has created a 25-year legacy of success by working with underserved and underrepresented teens from the St. Louis area throughout their high school years to help prepare them for in-demand STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers of the future. But where do these talented teens come from? Recruiting these local teens all starts with the Science Center’s network of community partner organizations.
The YES Program works closely with a variety of organizations, collaborating on different initiatives supporting youth in the St. Louis community and recruiting teens from around the St. Louis bi-state metropolitan area to participate in the program. With a network of community partners, the YES Program works with organizations like the Riverview Gardens School District, Girls Incorporated of St. Louis, Mission St. Louis, Saint Louis Public Schools, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and many more. To help recruit new YES Teens, members from the Science Center’s Community Science department visit community partner organizations to talk about and encourage interest in the YES Program.
Community partners refer teens to the program and, once recruited, the new cohort begins its time in YES—the only four-year program in St. Louis that delivers STEM learning in a work-study framework. The teens spend a semester training for their time in YES in the leadup to Summertime Science, where the YES Teens will begin facilitating STEM learning activities with members of the community.
The YES Teens then have options to explore career pathways in a range of STEM fields, including aerospace, , computer science, engineering, entrepreneurial science, and more. The YES Teens also engage in youth development and college and career readiness activities. By the time they graduate from the YES Program their senior year of high school, the YES Teens are an inspirational, empowered group that is prepared to succeed in their endeavors and effect positive change in St. Louis.
Learn more about the YES Program here.
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 Curiosity 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 STEM learning in the St. Louis region?
