KID Museum is thrilled to welcome students back for in-person programming this month including hands-on experiences through a new partnership with The Universities at Shady Grove (USG). Giving thousands of elementary and middle school students a jumpstart on post-pandemic learning, these experiential programs are led by KID Museum maker educators to help kids develop the technical and social emotional skills they need to succeed.
Middle school students from Title I Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will make, invent, and collaborate as part of Introduction to Inventing, while other middle schoolers will take part in KID Museum field trips through the Department of Recreation’s leadership camps, designed to activate them as makers and build engagement in STEM.
All programs will take place in USG’s state-of-the-art Biomedical and Engineering Building. Upon seeing the building for the first time, KID Museum Education Program Manager Maya Oliver declared, “Kids are going to walk in here and say ‘Oh yeah, I’m a scientist!'” For some students, this will be their first time on a college campus. When kids have this kind of positive, on-campus experience, they start to see what’s possible for their future.
“We are thrilled to partner with the KID Museum and MCPS to provide powerful STEM learning opportunities for these students in our new, state-of-the-art Biomedical Sciences and Engineering building on the USG campus, said Dr. Anne Khademian, USG Executive Director. “This is exactly the kind of program that can ignite a spark in a young person and ultimately lead them on the path to an exciting, impactful career.”
In addition to delivering programs at USG, KID Museum opened its doors at Davis Library, welcoming 2nd through 7th graders for summer camps, the museum’s first in-person programming since the pandemic. “This is what camp is supposed to be,” said KID Maker Educator, Kevin, as he guided campers in building circuits for an electric vehicle design challenge. “The kids are so excited.”
Across the room, younger campers put the finishing touches on self-constructed propeller boats before testing them in a wading pool outside.
Across the region, KID Museum is re-engaging students through programs specifically designed to address Covid recovery and lagging core math proficiencies. Almost 3,000 rising 2nd through 4th graders from MCPS Title I schools, as well as elementary students from two District of Columbia Public Schools, are participating in KID Museum’s Make It! Classroom curriculum through summer school in preparation for the coming year.
These students join another 200 elementary students from Title I schools who got an early jumpstart on a summer of learning through MCPS LEAP Bridge. For this program, KID Museum designed and facilitated hands-on maker experiences to bridge learning between the school year and summer.
KID Museum’s robust summer programming is just the start of our expanded offerings and impact. This fall, more than 12,000 students will have access to essential maker learning experiences, so that they not only recover from Covid-interrupted learning, but leapfrog forward into the future.
