This is my second year participating in the Educator Externship. I have been with the Boys and Girls Club of Post Falls both years. My role has been to teach STEM. The Boys and Girls Club in Post Falls has about 200 children on an average day. That is about the size of a small Elementary school. During the day these youths receive breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Every hour or so they are presented with new activities they get to participate in. My lessons are just one of those options.

During the school year, I teach lower Elementary aged students. I am a general classroom instructor not a specialist in STEM. But before I was a teacher, I worked in Food Science utilizing my Bachelors in Science in Biology. I really enjoy getting to dust off that science knowledge and make lessons that, I hope, get our youths excited about science and STEM careers.

Over the last two summers, these lessons have ranged from building Legos as an icebreaker and intro into Engineering to growing crystals to taking nature walks. I try to make these lessons start with a science lesson and then move to a hands-on experiment or building challenge. My goal is to introduce science and STEM in general but fun ways. When we extracted DNA from strawberries, we first did a quick lesson on DNA and how seeds carry DNA to grow a whole new plant. I let the youths do most of the hands-on work. I want them to remember science as exciting and fun. So hopefully when they look at careers in the future, they think that STEM jobs could be a fun and fulfilling option.

I do my lessons with Elementary-aged youths and our Middle school-aged students. During the school year, I do not teach Middle School aged students. So, this is fun for me to stretch to find harder challenges. To show them essentially a preview of what they will learn in Middle School. I have been so impressed with their willingness to try and ask really thought-provoking questions.

Overall, my experience with this externship and with the Boys and Girls Club has been challenging and fulfilling. I appreciate this opportunity. I hope that I am reaching my goals and enticing a new generation of students to become scientists, engineers, etc…