What inspired our Mission to Mars theme, and who is Spring Club designed for? We sat down with Jacki Lane, our Director of Education Programs, to talk about the ideas behind the program and what participants can look forward to this season.
My first question for you is, can you tell us what Spring Explorers Club is, and who it's designed for?
Project Scientist’s Explorers Club is a joyful, hands-on, out-of-school STEAM program that is really designed to build confidence and spark curiosity and leadership in our girls through our engaging STEAM activities and connections with diverse STEAM role models. This spring, our girls will experience a sense of belonging, they'll see themselves as innovative scientists, and problem solvers. This spring is bigger than ever, with 120 clubs across the U.S. and into Mexico, serving about 2,200 students. Each one of them are discovering that they belong in STEM and their ideas matter.
What inspired this spring's Mission to Mars theme?
Oh, well, we already knew our girls are out of this world, but besides all of those space puns, when we are selecting our themes, so much of it comes from the input of our stakeholders, with our girls being the most important part of that. So we always ask them, what are you interested in? What do you want to learn about? Space is one that just comes up a lot. We've been so fortunate to have a team of STEM experts and educators that we collaborate with to make sure that that curriculum really focuses on topics that are relevant, that are rigorous.
With the growing commercialization of space, knowing that 10 years from now, what space travel could look like could be really different. It's exciting to be able to bring that to our students, and maybe they'll be the ones to kind of envision what that future looks like."
What kinds of hands-on projects or experiments can students expect?
I love this one, because we've been able to create it kind of around a real mission to Mars. Our students start out by preparing their mission crew, and then launching their rocket and figuring out how we can land on Mars safely. From there, conducting experiments to create and test rovers that can explore, and study life on Mars even at the microbiology level. If we were going to be there and create habitats, which is part of our program too, what would we need to survive? So looking at all of that, in kind of a… what felt futuristic, but really it's here, how could we create life on Mars, and study it, and learn more about it.
So much fun! How does the club encourage creativity and problem solving?
It's really at the heart of the curriculum that we create for our students. Our lessons are truly intentionally planned to be open-ended, to allow them the freedom to explore and test their ideas and collaborate with their peers. All of that is surrounding the project scientist engineering design process. Our girls are encouraged to ask questions, to take risks, to iterate when something doesn't work. Without that fear of getting something wrong, or having a bad idea. There are no bad ideas. So we set up this environment where our girls know that they're safe to explore and to fail, and they just have opportunities to solve real-world problems that are really relevant to the community, so they can see how STEM can be used to impact their community.
What do you hope students walk away with at the end of this Mission to Mars session?
Oh, well, besides absolutely loving exploring space, it's gonna be a really fun one. This mission is so much more than learning about space itself. It's about empowering our girls to take up space and to grow in their confidence and their belonging. So, each one of our lessons is paired with diverse women in STEM that serve as their role models, that inspire them to lead boldly. Throughout this whole curriculum, they're really breaking down stereotypes, understanding, their own personal stories of resilience, and learning from that of role models. So, they'll learn about role models that are aspiring fashion designers that created thermal blankets, or people that love scuba diving, that train these astronauts for weightlessness, kind of everything in between. So it's great to expose them to what else is out there in STEM, and how that all kind of comes together in these careers.
How does the Explorers Club help build confidence and curiosity in STEAM?
A big part of building that confidence and curiosity is the way we intentionally develop both STEM and leadership skills within there. Through these hands-on, collaborative experiences, they're asking questions, they're discovering their own learning, but they're also understanding that they have the power to make decisions, and they are in a safe space where they can share ideas and collaborate and take on those leadership roles.
We just want our girls to know that their voices matter, and their ideas are valued, so part of that confidence comes from just ensuring that they have those opportunities, and exposing them to role models that help them to see STEM as a diverse place.
Can you share a personal experience that influenced how you design or lead these programs?
Yeah, it kind of comes twofold. As a little girl, I wanted to be an astronaut. I loved math and science growing up in school. But as I got older, some of my confidence and my STEM identity began to fade. I didn't have female STEM role models, and some of those stereotypes of who belonged in STEM kind of quietly did their damage on whether or not I felt like STEM was part of who I am.
When I was teaching elementary school, I had the opportunity to create a STEM program in a district where it didn't exist. I was able to see the difference from when students were learning about science as something they read about, to engaging in these hands-on challenges and developing their curiosity and problem solving. To see their sense of belonging and their confidence grow was beautiful. Everybody needs that opportunity. So, in developing these programs, I really want to make sure our students have an opportunity to see themselves in STEM, to grow in their confidence, and to just kind of view learning as this lifelong, engaging thing in science.
What do you hope students remember about you or your programs?
The biggest piece is that we just want them to know that they belong in STEM. They are our future innovators, they're our future leaders and disruptors, and their ideas truly do matter. We want them to know that as they walk through their STEM journey, they're not alone in that. They have their Project Scientist team, they have their educators, they have this beautiful cohort of peers that have been going through this program with them. We're just cheering them on the whole way, so that they know they belong.
Are there any STEAM skills you enjoy teaching or facilitating the most?
Oh failing, without a question, is my favorite skill for our students to learn. At Project Scientist, failure is set up in a way where students feel safe, and they learn that failure is not the end of something, but rather a beginning. We teach them that failure means a first attempt in learning, so their engineering design process, they iterate, they persist, they celebrate the growth that comes out of failure, and watching them gain that resilience and that confidence through trial and error is just a really beautiful part of it.
Finally, what would you say to parents, guardians or students who are on the fence about signing up?
Tell them to hurry and sign up as fast as they can, they're gonna have so much fun. For our students, it truly is an incredibly fun time. We center these lessons around opportunities to be hands-on, to be creative in their own way, and to be able to collaborate with their friends. They're not gonna be tested on what they're learning in science, they're just engaging in truly joyful learning.
As far as parents or caregivers go, it's not just about [your child] growing in their STEM skills. They grow in their confidence, and they have an opportunity to soar in a place that is safe and affirming. They have opportunities to lead boldly, think creatively and grow in their knowledge.
