Telescopes, robots, stealth models and even a remote-control UFO model big enough for a smack adult to sit inside were just part of the science stations on display during the West Los Angeles College Space Day event on Saturday, Dec. 21.
The free event was sponsored by West’s Upward Bound grant, which consist of a classic grant and the math and science grant, and is tailored to get first-generation kids to graduate high school and college.
“It (grant) is to get that first generation, low-economic background student out of high school and into and out of college,” Project Director for Upper Bound Math-Science Dr. Diane Watkins said. “We try to give them everything that they need to do that.”
The day of exhibits was tailored to spark interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) collegiate majors and professional careers at West L.A.
“We put out a newsletter to our kids once a month and part of the newsletter is talking about careers in science and math that are not things they usually think about,” Dr. Watkins said. “For instance, nursing is not seen as a STEM career but it is: also, when we think about nursing we think it is a career for women but we highlight the other sex. There are a lot of male nurses out there and we try to highlight that.”
Space Day is the Traveling Space Museum’s award-winning program that provides students with a very high level of interactive, hands-on activities through a wide range of activities. Through Upward Bound and Upward Bound Match/Science West L.A. is able to work with students from Crenshaw, Dorsey, Hamilton and Los Angeles High School and West L.A. was able to partner with TSM for the day’s event.
“The traveling space museum came in to being in 1998 and we were originally a project with Lockhead Martin who was looking into getting students interested in STEM careers,” Founder of the Traveling Space Museum Ivor Dawson said. “They knew fifteen years ago that if they did not start creating a new generation of highly-skilled tech workers that they would not be able to do what they wanted to do in terms of aerospace and technology in general.”
The Upward Bound Program allows West L.A. to provide crucial support to high school students as they prepare for college entrance while providing opportunities for these pupils to succeed during their precollege and eventual higher education years. To qualify students must be in the ninth or 10th grade, they must have academic need and want to go to college; the applicant must meet low-income family guidelines or be potential first-generation college student in the family. Lastly they must be a U.S. citizen.
“I don’t see many challenges in that because people are starting to realize that today, unlike thirty to forty years ago where graduating high school you could get a good job, now the bachelor degree is where high school used to be,” Dr. Watkins said. “That is not the part that holds people back from coming into the program. The kids now know that if they are not in college.”
The TSM began with four such pieces to exhibit and has now grown to where it can attend any event with up to 12 pieces, with the support and encouragement of local science organizations. The Dec. 21 event included exhibits with a full-motion flight simulator, a full-scale Odyssey IV Mobile SpaceLab, a fully functioning jet plane, a lunar rover and a?space toilet. In its travels across the United States, the TSM has served more than 200,000 students at their campuses while appealing to countless others through a variety of media channels.
“I was at Manual Arts High School a few years ago when I worked for L.A. Unified and I saw this event going on,” Dr. Watkins said. “When I started working for Upward Bound, I thought it would be a great thing to bring here. Since we have an emphasis on math and science, I knew we needed to get the TSM to come.”
