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Read the press release here.

New NASA-Designed STEM Program in Jamaica Accepting Applications

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | October 27, 2015 3:56pm
 The program is meant for kids in first through ninth grades and their parents.
The program is meant for kids in first through ninth grades and their parents.
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Courtesy of Nazrul Khandaker

QUEENS — Science can be fun!

A new free program at York College in Jamaica will give local kids, as well as their parents, the opportunity to pursue STEM education in a unique NASA-designed environment, the organizers said.

The program, sponsored by NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project, kicked off earlier this month, but there are still several spots available, the organizers said.

The eight-session program for students in first through ninth grades, will run on Saturdays until Dec. 12, and will include hands-on activities relevant to NASA missions.

It will follow a STEM curriculum “that meets national science, technology, engineering and mathematics standards," creating additional learning opportunities “for underserved and underrepresented youth,” the organizers said.

Kids will spend time at the college's Aerospace Educational Lab, which was installed at the campus by NASA. The lab includes flight simulators, a GPS station and robotic facilities.

The program will also include elements of climate education. 

The initiative will seek to educate the parents as well. While kids will be in class, their parents will get to spend time at a “Family Cafe" held at the school's auditorium, where some of the activities studied by children will be duplicated to make their guardians familiar with STEM programs.

“Our goal is to conduct STEM education and outreach [among students] and also empower their parents through STEM engagement so they can be influencing their children to focus on the STEM education,” said program director, Dr. Nazrul Khandaker.

"We also want the parents to know more about the STEM opportunities and different careers that are available out there in the STEM field for minority students,” he noted.

The new initiative replaced another NASA program SEMAA (Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy), which served the area since 1999. That program was incorporated into the new initiative which will now focus primarily on STEM education.

The program will run on Saturdays through Dec. 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, with no classes held on Nov. 28. The program offers science activities for children in first through ninth grades. Family Café will be available each Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. The classes are held at 94-20 Guy Brewer Blvd. in Jamaica. Applications are available here.