STEAM Kit Distribution ✔️
Thanks to our corporate donors for their support
Published09/11/2020
Through generous support from our corporate partners, the Bell Museum distributed our final STEAM activity kits to schools and community centers last week. This third round of kits included everything needed to make s’mores in a solar oven and bird seed cookies to give migrating birds a boost! Providing opportunities to engage our next generation in natural science and the wonders of STEM is core to our mission as the states official natural history museum. The program—which delivered three different activity kits—served 9,000 school children in the Twin Cities metro area over the span of the summer.
We heard from Northrop Elementary School STEM teacher Anna Whiting, who was very excited to hand out the kits to students.
“The students were absolutely excited to pick up two kits at our open house. Seeing their big eyes and hearing them say ‘these are for me?’ made my day! I only have about 100 students who need to pick up this week so you can imagine that the STEM booth was the most popular with close to 400 students there. I am so overjoyed with the materials. They may seem basic to anyone else, but knowing that every single student has access to materials is amazing. I cannot wait to teach! This has made my planning so much easier and less stressful. It has inspired me to think of other creative ideas. The lesson book that accompanied the kits is phenomenal. Thank you for putting this all together!”
We distributed the kits in a number of ways. At Roseville Area Schools, Brian Coyle Center (Pillsbury United Communities), and Urban Roots, they were handed out with meals and household supplies. At Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, which is still open and serving children in a daycare capacity, the kits were added to the kids’ daily activities. And we distributed the remaining kits at outdoor events, including a Northside Achievement Zone event that was focused on outdoor reading and distributed books to children.
Thanks to UCare, Boston Scientific, H.B. Fuller Company, General Mills, and Donaldson Company for investing in the future!