Museum offers place for students to continue learning after school

Submitted photo GARDENERS: Ouachita National Forest wildlife biologist Mary Brown, left, assists Science After School participant Ashton Mahomes in planting a pollinator garden in front of Mid-America Science Museum.
Submitted photo GARDENERS: Ouachita National Forest wildlife biologist Mary Brown, left, assists Science After School participant Ashton Mahomes in planting a pollinator garden in front of Mid-America Science Museum.

Mid-America Science Museum is now helping to fill the need for safe and educational after-school care for students in the Hot Springs, Lake Hamilton, Lakeside and Mountain Pine school districts.

Since Jan. 7, the museum's Science After School program has offered students the chance to participate in hands-on science activities, enjoy a snack, play time, and socialize with students from different schools in a protected, supervised and educational environment at the museum.

"It extends the day a little bit for the kids, but it also reinforces the things they're learning in school. It gets them with kids from other school districts," said Diane LaFollette, the museum's executive director.

"We have some wonderful educators, so it's a different kind of environment than school. I think it just helps reinforce that learning happens outside the classroom. That's a lesson for the rest of your life. And it gives us an opportunity to do more hands-on projects with the kids and get them more engaged. Because that's how people get engaged, whole-bodied: mind, hands, everything. Then it makes an impact," she said.

The program collaborates with the participating school districts to obtain curriculum maps for the semester. This allows Science After School to prepare students for upcoming concepts or reinforce school science lessons from that week.

"It's not like they're going back to school. They come and they play, but we do informal phenomena-based science every day with kids, and it's just an extension of that. It's something that we can do really, really well. I anticipate the program growing next year exponentially," said the museum's director of education, Jeremy Mackey.

"I think it's really cool to get them out of the classroom to do hands-on activities that engage them in science. Someone can get up there and talk, but some concepts just don't click for kids. But to experiment in a really unique environment like this, I think they gain so much more out of it," said Kayla Ingle, a museum education associate.

So far, students have participated in activities pertaining to robotics, engineering, earth science, environmental science, and physics guided by trained museum educators.

"The great thing about the educators that are running the program and spending time with the kids is they're great at finding those teachable moments," Mackey said.

Students recently took part in a project in which master naturalists visited and assisted students in planting a garden in front of the museum to attract pollinators, such as bees, to the area.

"Now we're recording and taking measurements to see how those plants grow and see when the pollinators come in and try to see what environmental factors, like where they were planted, affect their growth. It's open-ended questions that they can answer," Mackey said.

As this project suggests, children don't stay cooped up indoors during the program.

"Kids need to be kids. We have plenty of time where we're outside. Because of our alternative compliance with (Department of Human Services), we close down the DinoTrek for the kids when they get here. We have 13 acres for them. So we'll go off trail and do nature hikes. I try to incorporate some type of earth science or nature into every time we're outside. We'll go play catch too. We do what the kids like to do," Mackey said.

Due to the adaptable nature of the program, students are allowed to incorporate their own interests and talents into the lesson plans.

"We have a student who is so artistic. We're able to take what he's interested in and then bridge into some science. We talk about magnets, and maybe he can draw circuits. It's things like that where we can be really flexible and meet the students where they are instead of trying to pull them along or push them," he said.

Mackey shared what he felt to be a success story, of a student who had never visited the museum before but is now a regular five days a week at the program, blossoming.

"His mom said his teachers are saying he's a different kid. His behavior problems are disappearing, his reading level has gone up, and he's now taking apart every electronic in the house because he needed a red wire. So he's found something he's really interested in. And it all started with just a little toothbrush robot," he said.

"That's what the thought behind the program was: to provide a safe place for kids to come where they can do science and that we can continue to make an impact on those kids. Make an impact on our community. That was the whole idea of the program, and it's happening and it's fun," Mackey said.

Currently, the program's busiest days see up to 25 participants. There are still plenty of enrollment spots open; the program is licensed by the Arkansas Department of Human Services to accommodate up to 111 students.

A ratio of one adult per 18 children is maintained at all times, and groups are typically separated by grade level to ensure that activities are age appropriate.

Participating schools bus their students to the museum, but any student who can pay for the program and has transportation can participate as long as there is space available, regardless of whether they belong to one of the participating school districts.

Each day of program attendance is $10, plus a one-time registration fee.

The program has a flexible scheduling policy that allows parents to choose what days their children attend -- anywhere from one to five days per week. The hours of operation are 3:30-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Hot Springs students are allowed to arrive at 2:45 p.m. on Wednesdays to accommodate those days' early class dismissals.

The museum is now offering a discount on the program for the upcoming fall semester where those who sign up their children before June 15 for at least three days will receive their first week free.

Science After School did not operate this week due to schools being closed for spring break, but will resume on Monday.

Local on 03/22/2019

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