YES Goes Virtual For The Summer
Curiosity never stops. When COVID-19 jeopardized future plans for summer programs, the Saint Louis Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program decided to go virtual for the summer. YES offers seven components for participants, from Aerospace to Media Production. Online sessions were created for the teens to complete in their own homes, where they could continue to focus on their area of STEAM. YES educators, like many others across the world, adapted to off-site learning and online demonstrations, webinars and activities.
Sessions included using iMovie to shoot videos on their own phone, analyzing how COVID-19 affected our food supply and public health lessons about social distancing. Teens were able to choose sessions outside of their own component topic, so they could explore Cybersecurity one day and Entrepreneurship the next.
In addition, the Science Center’s YES Program was a supporting community partner of Girls, Inc. of St. Louis’ summer virtual camp. Virtual lessons and activities were prepared for Girls, Inc.’s instructors to facilitate for more than 400 registered participants, including students in the Jennings School District.
For information, visit our YES Program.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
When asked about what the approach to learning this summer should be for the program, YES Teen Michael Bolstic said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
YES Teens Win 2nd & 3rd Place in NFTE Regional Competition
At the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Regional Competition on May 21, YES Teens Lailah Hall and Anthony McDonald advanced to the final round of the competition.
Lailah and Anthony serve as founders and co-CEOs of their business – Quick Farm, a program that developed an app to sell subsidized local, fresh and healthy produce to families living in food deserts.
In addition, YES Teen Michael Bolstic’s business, I Am Not A Statistic, moved to the final round. Michael’s company is a nonprofit organization that helps pair high school mentors with elementary school students to help increase literacy, academic achievement, character education and self-efficacy. His program has already trained 20 mentors and is approved to begin in two school districts during the 2020–2021 school year.
Quick Farm and I Am Not A Statistic were two of three businesses that made it to the final round at NFTE. Quick Farm’s hard work earned 3rd place in the region and a $500 prize. I Am Not A Statistic won 2nd place in the region and a $1,000 prize. Michael and his business will advance to Nationals to compete on October 16.
Community Science Department Creates Online Coding Course
In the face of COVID-19 and in an effort to keep his students connected and informed about coding, Bill Stanard, manager of technology for
the Community Science department, decided to create an online course called Python Games. While the course may seem to be focused on building games, the heart of it is to build survival skills.
“The first thing that I try to do is make sure that it’s something that is going to help [students] either survive, or get a leg up, or in some way impact them in their lives,” Bill says. “We need to give them survival skills. And the survival skills in this day and age are – at least part of them are – STEM-based, science-based.”
Read more about Bill’s Python Games coding course on the Science Center blog
Learn more about the importance of coding and robots directly from Bill Standard. Listen to this interview on Educate.Today..
#Giving
Tuesday
Spark Science Opportunities For Everyone
Mark your calendar for #GivingTuesday
December 1, 2020
Gifts for Giving Tuesday support science connections in the St. Louis region. Donations help support the Science Center’s Annual Fund, which powers everything from our community programs and partnerships, outreach and education efforts like Youth Exploring Science (YES) and the mission- driven educators and STEAM professionals bringing open, accessible science education to our community every day.
If you’d like to support the Science Center today, visit Supporting Memberships to learn more, planned giving and corporate giving. You can also make a gift to the Annual Fund.
Give the Gift of Membership
Spark a passion for science. Ignite a lifetime of discoveries.
A Science Center membership doesn’t have to be for yourself. In fact, the incredible perks of membership make for an out-of-this-world gift for just about any occasion—from a birthday, a holiday or simply a thank you. Gifting a membership to the Science Center unlocks a full year of benefits for someone you care about, whether they’re a budding scientist or a lifelong learner.
Gifting a membership also allows you and the recipient to know that you’re both supporting STEAM learning in St. Louis. Plus, the Science Center is part of the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), meaning a membership has benefits not just across the U.S. but around the world.
Visit our Memberships page to see how you can give the gift of membership.