Student outreach in the MESA program
Fifth grader Alexa, after her Kids in Nature (KIN) sponsored field trip, wrote: “I like everything about Arroyo Hondo because I learned about the plants and animals.” High school student Jesus, taking part in the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) Summer Research Program, assisted on the project “Creating More Efficient Security: Development of Cryptography for Embedded Systems.” A teacher from the Ballard School wrote about the Marine Science Institute’s Mobile REEF Program, “[Our] first grade has been coming to you for about five years now. I appreciate that your students can adjust the program to 1st grade. They [the docents] keep it challenging, asking probing questions, and pulling in prior knowledge. They allow so much hands-on with the animals and teach not only about the animals but also conservation and respect for the ocean.”
There are just three of the myriad experiences that UC Santa Barbara provides for K-14 students, teachers, and parents year round, expanding and extending science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education beyond the traditional classroom. Now discovering more about these 45 outreach programs has become even more convenient with a new website cataloging the projects. It is appropriately housed on the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education website at education.ucsb.edu/impact/local/stem-outreach.
“No one questions the crucial need for STEM knowledge for the 21st century workforce and citizenry,” says Lilly Garcia, Director of STEM Outreach at the Gevirtz School. “That’s why this website is so important as it puts so many valuable resources a few clicks away from concerned teachers and parents. They will be pleased to discover the range of ways STEM learning can happen thanks to so many programs at UCSB.”
The website provides the full list of programs, from the Amgen Biotech Experience that provides teacher professional development and materials to the UCSB Summer Science Camp, a week-long day camp for 8-12 year-olds. But it also has a robust search function, so the user can search by program duration (one-time or long-time experiences), the type of experience (teacher professional development, research experiences, academic preparation, class visits, resources), by audience (from type of student or teacher to parent), or by center or department that provides the program.
Paula Sevilla, a teacher at Adelante Charter School and UCSB Teacher Education Program alumna, says, “Being able to access so many STEM based programs in one place and search for a program with specific characteristics makes UCSB's STEM Outreach webpage a great educational resource for local teachers.”