Toyota’s African American Collaborative Supports YES
The African American Collaborative (AAC) at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Missouri, a cylinder head plant in Troy, is lending its expertise and support to the Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science (YES) program this fall. The AAC is an organization of dedicated Toyota team members who support the company’s success by encouraging an environment that recognizes and respects diversity in the workplace through education and networking, creating a positive environment for all.
The group has generously donated funding for at-home tool kits needed for the YES Aerospace Engineering students’ virtual unit focused on the Tuskegee Airmen and their planes, history and science of flight. Students will learn to read plans, create measurements and utilize tools to create models. The students will use these transferable skills of future to build a full-sized replica aircraft using wood, fabric and aerospace materials.
The group will also provide mentoring and project support for the YES program’s cyber security component.
In addition, the African American Collaborative will facilitate engaging virtual presentations for the YES teens on Toyota Missouri’s plant operations, career opportunities in manufacturing and how to keep an engineering notebook.
Missouri Farm Bureau Supports GROW
The Missouri Farm Bureau generously presented $50,000 to the Science Center’s GROW Gallery. The event also celebrated the retirement of the Missouri Farm Bureau’s President, Blake Hurst, after 10 years of outstanding leadership.
Under Hurst’s leadership, the Missouri Farm Bureau joined the Saint Louis Science Center in 2016 as a founding partner to open GROW—the largest indoor/outdoor agricultural gallery of its kind in the world dedicated to the journey of food from harvest to home. The Missouri Farm Bureau’s ongoing support and partnership has helped guide GROW exhibits and educational programming which gives our visitors unique access to discover more about our region’s farmers and ranchers, the crops and livestock they raise and the advanced science and technology they use to feed the world.
“We are very appreciative of the outstanding guidance that Blake and the Missouri Farm Bureau has provided throughout the years to GROW,” says G. Patrick Williams, the Science Center’s chief institutional advancement officer. “His thoughtful leadership has been truly instrumental in helping develop GROW to be the outstanding agricultural gallery that it is today, and he has been truly a vital resource for connecting us with other agricultural organizations and partners that have also significantly impacted the success of the gallery.”
On October 1, the Science Center held its 7th annual golf tournament in Forest Park benefiting aviation and aerospace STEAM education programs. The beautiful fall day played host to 84 golfers who participated in the longest drive, closest to the pin and hole-in-one contests, as well as a tournament raffle and silent auction. Congratulations to all the winners, and a special congratulations to Controlled Products Systems Group who took first place for the second year in a row!
A special acknowledgement to our tournament chair, Daniel Ladenberger, for his outstanding leadership of the Science Center’s tournament for the past seven years. His longstanding dedication to the tournament has been instrumental in raising more than $500,000 for STEAM education programming to date.
The 8th Annual Golf Tournament will be held on Thursday, October 7, 2021.
Tournament winners, Controlled Products Systems Group
President, Kemco Aerospace Manufacturing
With the generosity of our sponsors and donors in this unprecedented year, the Science Center raised $47,220 in Sponsorship and Registration, with 25 raffle and 4 silent auction packages valued at $11,000.
STEAM Sponsors
SCIENCE
TECHNOLOGY
ENGINEERING
ART
MATH
