Carolina’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is extending its mission outside of its Chapel Hill facility this summer, bringing free science education and interactive STEM learning to children across North Carolina.
GSK Science in the Summer – a partnership between Morehead and the healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline – offers science programs to elementary and middle school students in 11 counties across our state, including Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Harnett, Johnston. , Orange, Vance and Wake. The program aims to spark a lifelong passion for science and inspire the next generation of scientists.
“Morehead understands that there are barriers surrounding coming to Chapel Hill physically,” said Glenda Hairston, the director of youth and family programs at the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. “To remove those barriers, we need to take our content and our programming beyond Chapel Hill.”
The program is centered on serving North Carolina students, with a particular focus on children from historically marginalized backgrounds. Hairston and her team pride themselves on not adhering to a “one-size-fits-all” program by meeting the unique needs of students across the state and ensuring that GSK Science in the summer community offers valuable, engaging experiences and accessible. all summer.
“We aim to ensure that children who have historically been underrepresented in science and STEM fields have access and the opportunity to do so through this program,” Hairston said.
Each year, the summer program explores a new theme. With this year’s theme, “Be a Biologist: Discover the World Around You,” campers’ curiosity is amplified to learn more about Earth’s plants, animals, and other life forms by participating in crafts , interactive activities and group discussions.
“Because it’s such a broad topic, we’re approaching it from many angles,” said Annie Sider, lead coordinator for Science at GSK in the summer. “Every day has a different focus.”
From seeing children enjoy the curriculum to watching them connect with their peers, Hairston describes the impact of this year’s program planning as a “fruit of their efforts.”
“Traveling to different camps in different areas in those 11 counties and seeing the excitement in the educators and high school assistants leading the camp and campers is always my greatest joy,” Hairston said. “Seeing kids literally have a paradigm shift in how they perceive science is also really rewarding for me.”
GSK Science’s impact on summer doesn’t just stop with campers.
The program hires and trains educators and high school students to lead the camps, which served more than 3,000 children through 161 camps this summer. Throughout the planning process, Hairston and her team train camp staff on summer curriculum and supplemental policies.
“Meeting high school teachers and students from across the state and hearing their perspectives on how to adapt the curriculum was such an invaluable benefit while working with this program and the people we hired to run it,” Hairston said. . “We are proud to be able to support teachers during their academic year as well. Beyond the summer experiences, they can take the activities they lead during Science in the summer and integrate them into their classroom courses during the academic year.
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is expanding its campuses in partnership with Johnston County Public Schools to incorporate GSK Science in the summer into the curriculum of nine school days. Through the new partnership, summer school students will have an alternative approach to learning math and science through interactive activities while gaining knowledge to help them during the next academic year.
“Learning loss can be a consequence for some during the summer months,” Hairston said. “Having those enriched learning experiences in the summer helps combat that.”
Learn more about Morehead Planetarium and Science Center programs
