Saint Louis Science Center Receives Grant from The Boeing Company to Enhance STEM Learning

Saint Louis Science Center Receives Grant from The Boeing Company to Enhance STEM Learning

Funding Advances Science Center Efforts to Provide Educational Outreach to Underserved, Underrepresented Communities

The Saint Louis Science Center is proud to continue its long-standing relationship with Boeing by announcing the receipt of a grant in the amount of $80,000. Boeing grant funding supports the Science Center’s Community Science programming that enhances vital skills and brings fun learning to St. Louis area youths from communities who have limited access to STEM (science, engineering, technology and mathematics) curricula.

“A STEM-based education prepares individuals for more than simply careers in science; it develops their personal leadership and problem-solving skills for the near- and long-term horizon,” noted Bobby Sanderson, chief institutional officer for the Saint Louis Science Center. “By supporting STEM learning, the Science Center and our community partners hope to spark students’ educational interests, expose them to potential career fields they may not readily consider on their own, and develop them into role models for our community. We’re honored to continue this relationship with Boeing and are grateful for their support in providing this much-needed programming for youth in the St. Louis area.”

“The Saint Louis Science Center is an important STEM organization in our community,” said Chris Bray, Boeing Global Engagement Central Region senior manager. “Our long-standing relationship has increased STEM educational opportunities for youth of all ages and backgrounds. Boeing is proud to support programs like Youth Exploring Science that support our local future innovators.”

Youth Exploring Science, Summertime Science and STEMTastic Camp Programs

Three Science Center programs directly benefit from contributions made by Boeing and operate at no cost to participants or the local community organizations they represent:

• The Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program is the only four-year informal STEM learning program in St. Louis that delivers opportunities in a work-study framework and prepares participants for in-demand careers of the 21st Century, including aerospace, agriscience, computer science, engineering, entrepreneurship, and integrated medicine and well-being. Celebrating its 25th anniversary last fall, more than 1,200 area teens have been empowered by participation in this program, and more than 200,000 St. Louis Metropolitan Area residents have been exposed to STEM-focused programming through the YES Program’s outreach initiatives.
• Offered Mondays through Thursdays from June through July at the Science Center’s Taylor Community Science Center, the Summertime Science program introduces STEM concepts to thousands of students each year. During daily sessions, individuals can observe the operation of the facility’s flight simulator, design and fly paper airplanes, learn physics concepts, and gain more insights into aerospace and aeronautics.
• STEMtastic Camp delivers STEM experiences directly to students attending summer school in the Ferguson-Florissant and Riverview Gardens school districts. Both districts are Title 1 schools that aim to improve academic achievement in their students. Through the program, flight, space and technology lessons will demonstrate how the students’ lives and their interests closely connect with everyday engineering, technology and aerospace concepts.

“Students with limited access to high-quality, outside-of-school learning are disproportionately impacted in their developmental path,” the Science Center’s Senior Director of Community Science Siinya Williams said. “Our programming strives to promote self-confidence that leads to success in participants’ life-long journey. With this Boeing grant, we can expand our educational outreach to broaden our impact within our community.”

About The Boeing Company As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing’s diverse team is committed to innovating for the future, leading with sustainability and cultivating a culture based on the company’s core values of safety, quality and integrity.

Join the Boeing team and find your purpose at boeing.com/careers.

About the Saint Louis Science Center The mission of the Saint Louis Science Center is to inspire everyone to be curious and engaged in science. Named a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate in 2016, the award-winning Science Center engages people through on-site experiences, including hundreds of hands-on exhibits, the OMNIMAX? Theater, which is one of just nine IMAX? Dome with Laser theaters in the world, and the largest artificial sky in the Western Hemisphere at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium. Additionally, the organization provides high-level informal educational programming to schools and other organizations in the St. Louis community and is home to the nationally recognized Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program, which has created a legacy of success by working with underserved teens throughout their high school years to prepare them for in-demand STEM careers of the future. For more information on the Saint Louis Science Center, visit slsc.org or call (314) 289-4400.