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By Christine
Imbs
When Diane
Miller was recruited as the Saint Louis Science Center's senior
vice president of school and community programs and partnerships,
her goal was to help community-based organizations use the Science
Center as a resource.
"I started
by working with organizations that serve low income, young people,"
she says. "So there I was peddling science. But all they wanted
to talk about was teaching young people work skills. So I designed
a work-based program that not only teaches them good work ethics,
but a little science, as well."
Called Youth
Exploring Science, or YES, the program targets 14 year olds from
low-income families. The Science Center actually hires them for
four years to work after school and during the summer months.
Their first year is basically a lesson in what's expected of them.
They're taught good work habits and how to interact with a diverse
group of people along with such basics as how to wear a uniform
and how to get to work on time. They also learn how an organization
works, a few presentation skills, and some simple science experiments,
which they then get to teach to others in their communities.
"The kids
are paid minimum wageÑsix dollars an hour. It's not much to you
or me, but to a 14 year old it's very compelling," Miller says.
"Of course we know that once they've turned 16 and have two years
of training under their belts they can go elsewhere and get paid
a little more. But if we can just get them to start thinking about
college, and seeing themselves as successful adults, theyÕll stay
in the program."
Doug King,
president of the Science Center, recalls the first day of the
first YES program.
"Here I was
the museum president in his suit and tie ready to make a presentation
to the very first group," he says. "And Diane took me aside and
said, 'Don't be disappointed if I can't get their heads up off
the table. After all, they're only 14 year olds." But you know,
once they start the training and start teaching in their communities
their whole outlook changes. Suddenly it's, "I'm not just a kid.
I work for the Science Center. I've got my Science Center shirt
on and I look good." So now they've got a different identity and
they respond."
A good example
is one boy who came to Miller with his final eighth grade report
card in hand.
"Our program
is unique in that we don't seek out the best science students.
In fact, our kids may not even be good students. They're just
kids that somebody thinks has a good chance at succeeding in the
program," she says. "So we don't ask to see grades."
However what
they do need to see is some sort of proof that the kids are U.S.
citizens, and a report card is acceptable. This kid's report card
showed a string of Fs right across the board. Miller was dumbfounded.
How did he ever get into ninth grade? But he was able to join
the YES program. At the end of the school year, he proudly showed
Miller his new report card.
"He had gone
from all Fs to a 3.0 grade point average. I was so proud of him,"
she recalls. "He said to me, "Miss Diane I was misdiagnosed. I
thought I was stupid. But I'm teaching science at the Science
Center. I must be really smart.'"
After their
first year in the YES program, the kids get to sign up for various
projects during the school year. So in addition to tutoring other
kids in science, they now may be growing food for food pantries,
building greenhouses or redesigning spaces. Some may work at the
Zoo, while others at companies, local universities or even the
Genome Sequencing Center. And it's all while taking professional
development workshops at the Taylor Community Science Resource
Center.
"We're trying
to address generational poverty with this program," Miller says.
"Our goal is that at the end of their four years, all of these
kids will graduate from high school, will be informed decision
makers, and that almost all will enter college."
SLSC Board
of Commissioners member Phillip Needleman calls YES one of the
most extraordinary programs he's ever seen.
"Most of these
kids come from the City where they go through metal detectors
to get to class and the graduation rate is probably less than
25 percent. Yet they've come in on Saturdays to study for their
SATs and they've visited local colleges. So they're committed,"
he says. "One young girl in particular struck me. I asked her
what her friends thought about what she was doing. She told me
she had come to understand that her friends live in the present.
But she was preparing herself for the future. So they've developed
a totally different mindset. It's simply remarkable. We hope to
see the program eventually double in size."
Over the past
ten years, YES has gone from 15 students to well over 200 from
about 35 different high schools, including a group of about 40
ninth graders from the Wellston School District. This is the first
year that a school district has been targeted for the program.
Generally, the kids are recruited through community organizations
such as Girls Inc., the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation, Matthews-Dickey
and Annie Malone.
"We decided
to recruit from Wellston after looking at their standardized test
scores," Miller says. "There are 496 high schools in Missouri.
Wellston ranks 494. They had a lot of attendance issues and not
a lot of interest in science. But I thought if we could bring
these kids into the program, it would be phenomenal."
Based on
the program's success rate thus far, the Wellston kids stand a
good chance at changing their futures. This year, of the 32 kids
who started with the program when they were 14 years old, 31 are
going to college. They've received over $250,000 in scholarships
and are going to a list of about 20 different universities including
UMSL, Mizzou, Xavier University, and Jackson State University.
As for that last holdout, King says they haven't given up hope.
"We're still
working on that last one," he says laughing. "But you know, you
look at these young people now and they've all become wonderful
men and women. Recently, we learned that one young woman who graduated
from college two years ago was accepted in the University of Arkansas
Graduate School for molecular biology. If successful, it's automatic
admission to medical school. And to think at one time we measured
success by whether or not we could keep their heads off the table."
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