One of the most common reactions parents and other adults have when they visit an Earth Explorers classroom is, "Wow! I wish I had this program when I was in middle school!" Scroll along to learn how Earth Explorers is bringing its innovative program to students on the Front Range of Colorado.
Our program and passion:
The mission of Earth Explorers is to open doors to science and engineering careers by educating and mentoring underrepresented youth. We define underrepresented as girls, minorities, students living in poverty, students who will be among the first generation in their families to attend college, and people with disabilities. We use video and new media technology to connect young people to science and engineering professionals in their communities, and to deepen networks of resources that will help our students succeed beyond the classroom.
To achieve maximum impact, Earth Explorers focuses on creating positive connections between young people and scientists. Students work together in carefully diversified groups of four, and each team is paired with an enthusiastic scientist or engineer. Teams meet with their scientists several times on filming trips to national and commercial labs; over the course of an average semester, each team spends 10 hours working directly with their scientist and 30 hours interacting with an energetic graduate-student mentor. EE students learn basic research skills, storytelling, interviewing, and videography. Teams participate in after-school and weekend workshops where they produce 8-10 minute videos about their scientists, and those videos are presented at a fancy red-carpet film premiere for the students, their families, scientists, and the community.
We live to witness 'ah-ha!' moments inside and outside of the classroom, and our primary goal is to introduce young people to the possibility that they can become science professionals. One such 'ah-ha!' moment happened last fall in a sixth grade classroom: A group of scientists shared their struggles to succeed, and one of our scientists revealed he didn't do very well in school until he made it to college and discovered genetics research. Almost instantly, a boy in the class raised his hand high and asked, "Does that mean I can be a scientist too?!" Many of our students live in unstable homes without access to computers and other technology. Outside of experiences in school, these young people rarely encounter adults who have a college education, and they are even less likely to know a working scientist or engineer. Earth Explorers connects students to scientists who bridge that social gap. Students who participate in Earth Explorers are given opportunities to broaden the scope of their learning and to see themselves in careers and roles they never thought they could achieve.
Our campaign:
Over the past three school years, Earth Explorers has grown organically from an after-school enrichment program for 7th and 8th graders to a full middle school curriculum. During the 2012-2013 school year, more than 250 students participated in 6th, 7th and 8th grade Earth Explorers courses.
The demand for Earth Explorers to expand to additional schools is high! Interested schools are now approaching us, and we are almost ready to accept applications to add a new school in the fall. This campaign aims to raise the $14,000 necessary to offer Earth Explorers programming at one additional Boulder County middle school and reach a new group of young people.
Community Impact:
STEM education is a hot topic in in the media, drawing strong praise from entrepreneurs and policy-makers alike. Concensus is forming in the United States about the urgent need to give science and math education a boost. According to research from the National Science Foundation, a disproportionately small number of underrepresented students enter science and engineering careers in the United States. For students from middle-income families, college is usually a given. Unfortunately, minorities, women, and lower-income students often think a college degree and a professional life in the sciences is 'something for other people.' While unemployment rose nationally above ten percent a few years ago, unemployment in science and engineering careers remained below five percent. The successes of this program and others like it mean more middle-income families living stable, comfortable lives and contributing to the collective economic and intellectual prosperity of America.
Final thoughts:
Earth Explorers is a Boulder-based nonprofit corporation with 501(c)(3) approval. We incorporated as a nonprofit in 2011 to support and enhance our rapidly growing program and to take our work to schools throughout Boulder County, Colorado, and eventually, the country.
Please consider supporting the work we do at Earth Explorers with a monetary contribution, and use Indiegogo's sharing tools to link our page with other social networks. Take a look at our website (earthexplorers.org), get involved on our facebook page (facebook.com/EarthExplorersTM), and watch our students' movies on Vimeo (vimeo.com/earthexplorers).
