One important aim of the East Kentucky Science Center and Varia Planetarium (EKSC) is to promote STEM in our community, and this was part of the message that Susan Scott, EKSC Staff Instructor, shared when she presented at the Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative (KGSC) 11th annual conference at the University of Kentucky on June 21st, 2018.
Representing her role as a mentor in STEM education at the EKSC, Scott spoke on the importance of engaging children in meaningful science programs through fun and enriching experiments.
“In many ways, we are on the front lines of STEM education at the EKSC,” said Scott. “Our job is to give our visitors a ‘wow’ experience. We want kids to leave believing that science is not only fun, but also a part of everything we do. It is important to us to be a strong STEM influence to our community. Being a part of the KGSC helps us tap into resources and networking opportunities that helps us continue to do just that.”
For the past four years, the EKSC has received mini-grants from the KGSC to help fund the purchase of equipment for STEM programs taught at the EKSC. Particularly for their robotics program, which includes materials such as Cubelets, BeeBots, Probots, and this year mini-iPads for the Racing Robotics camp involving app-enabled Sphero robots.
“I was honored to be selected as a presenter at this year’s KGSC conference. It was a great way for the EKSC to share ideas in mentoring with other organizations across the state to help further the work of sparking interest in STEM subjects to our young patrons,” said Scott.
The Kentucky Girl’s Stem Collaborative awards mini-grants to girl-serving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused programs to support collaboration, address gaps and overlaps in service, and share exemplary practices.
For information about STEM and other great programming available at the East Kentucky Science Center and Varia Planetarium call (606) 889-8260 today.
(provided by Big Sandy Community and Technical College)
