The YES Program Explores Agriscience through Nature, Nutrition, and More

During the summer of 2023, the Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program partnered with the Green St. Louis Machine Program at Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club. In July, teens in the YES Program’s Agriscience component led approximately 60 children from Mathews-Dickey’s summer camp program in cooking, nutrition, and nature classes.

The children, who ranged from age 5 to 12, were divided into three groups, during which the YES Teens worked with the children in one-hour sessions across six days, leading them through hands-on STEM activities, including five lessons they adapted from the program’s sponsor, Growing Great.

One activity focused on how to make butter, and the YES Teens created their own song to perform with the children while they were shaking the butter. Then, they also had the children try adding salt to the butter, then testing the difference by tasting the butters on whole wheat crackers.

In another activity, the YES Teens designed their own lesson, a bok choy recipe that utilized bok choy from Green St. Louis Machine’s tower garden. The children were invited to pick their own bok choy to use in the recipe.

After completing the hands-on activities, each group participated in a field trip with the YES Teens to Shaw Nature Reserve. There, the teens led the children in inquiry-based exploration of the woodland, prairie, and pond at the site. After the field trip, the YES Teens and the children debriefed about what the children experienced in nature before returning to the Mathews-Dickey site.

To prepare for the field trips, the YES Teens practiced the lessons and activities in the weeks leading up to the beginning of the program, providing input on which lessons to share with the children and giving them time to develop the bok choy recipe they would teach to the kids. The teens also took a field trip to Shaw Nature Reserve in advance of taking the children to the site so that they could familiarize themselves with the nature reserve and practice outdoor STEM activities to do with the children.

Doing community outreach and mentoring young children are two of the ways the teens in the YES Program make an impact on STEM education in the St. Louis community. In October, the YES Program was included as part of a Shaw Nature Reserve presentation titled “Nature for All: Advancing Equity at an Environmental Education Center,” which looked at the work being done by the organization to provide equitable access to nature, including working with partners like the Science Center.

The YES Teens themselves are recruited from the Science Center’s network of 60 community partner organizations. Teens in YES stay with the four-year program throughout their high school years and receive exposure to multiple careers that span science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM). In addition, YES Teens participate in youth development and college and career readiness programs, helping to set them up for opportunities and success in 21st century STEM careers.

YES would like to thank American Honda Motor and Growing Great for sponsoring this program!