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St. Helens Public Library Receives Grant to Expand Science and Tech Programs for Youth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2018
St. Helens, Ore. – The St. Helens Public Library was recently notified that they have been selected to receive a $20,000 grant from Northwest STEM Hub to expand the Library’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs for local youth.
The Northwest STEM Hub works in Clatsop, Columbia, and Tillamook counties to create and elevate STEM opportunities throughout the region. The organization promotes authentic in and out-of-school STEM experiences that ignite students’ passions and interests through partnerships with K-12 education, high education, community-based organizations, families, and industries.
The St. Helens Public Library will use the $20,000 grant to expand its popular “Make It!” series. This series includes multi-session STEM, do-it-yourself, and art activities for elementary school students at the Library. The program series began in January 2017 and has included activities such as engineering challenges, stop-motion animation, sewing, robotics, coding, and 3D pens. Through the program, kids are able to flex their creative muscles, learn practical skills (often from each other rather than an adult), and learn how to apply design thinking to a problem. Design thinking is the process of identifying a problem, trying a solution, observing what worked and what did not, and then using that insight to try an improved solution.
The grant funding will allow St. Helens Public Library to offer more STEM workshops between December 2018 and May 2019 and allow more participants to attend the series. New technology will also be purchased with the money, including Ozobots, a sewing machine, more Dot and Dash robots, littleBits circuitry, green screens and light boxes for stop-motion animation projects, and more. The Library will also be able to hire a high school intern to assist with activity development and delivery.
The St. Helens Public Library program expansion will serve as a pilot program for potential future after school STEM experiences for children across the tri-county region. Curriculum developed by the St. Helens Public Library thanks to the grant may be used to offer or expand after school STEM activities at other libraries or informal learning organizations in the region.
Gretchen Kolderup is the current St. Helens Youth Librarian and is responsible for the STEM programming at St. Helens Public Library. She came to St. Helens Public Library in April 2016, having previously worked at the New York Public Library as the Manager of Young Adult Education and Engagement. She holds an undergraduate degree in math and a graduate degree in Library Science.
“The expansion of the Library’s STEM education programs was possible because of the foundation that Gretchen laid with the ‘Make It!’ program,” said Library Director Margaret Jeffries. “Gretchen has brought a skill set to St. Helens that is an invaluable resource to the parents and youth of our community. She is a true asset.”
Job opportunities in STEM fields have been expanding rapidly, and in response, a variety of organizations such as schools, non-profits, and government entities now focus on providing high-quality STEM experiences for young people to help them see themselves as future scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians and prepare for those careers.
The St. Helens Public Library has been a place of learning and growth for people of all ages. Over the last seven years, the Library has specifically offered STEM opportunities for young people, with a focus on high-interest topics and activities. The Library’s “Make It!” series blends STEM activities with those drawn from the maker movement, which comprises do-it-yourself enthusiasts, technologists, and educators. Makers create physical things or tinker with or modify existing ones such as rebuilding car engines or refining prototypes using a 3D printer. The “Make It!” series aims to offer opportunities for young people in St. Helens to grow as designers, problem-solvers, and creators.
The Northwest STEM Hub’s grant funding comes from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE). For 2018-19, the Northwest STEM Hub’s leadership team, school districts, and community partners identified and prioritized the expansion of non-formal, out-of-school programs as a focus area for funding. The St. Helens Public Library was chosen, in part, because it was identified as a “great location to lay a foundation for equitable, accessible, and community-based STEM programming for local youth.”
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For further information regarding the STEM Hub grant, please contact St. Helens Youth Librarian Gretchen Kolderup at 503-397-4544 or gretchenk@ci.st-helens.or.us.
