The UMass Amherst Mt. Ida campus in Newton will host a day of free academic enrichment for students in Grades 9-12 on November 11. Workshops in Innovation and Technology, Sports Management, and Creative Writing will provide a sample of the school’s pre-college summer programs. STEM workshops include The Art of Coding, Introduction to Veterinary Medicine, and Engineering Institute. Registration is required.
Category Archives: Opportunities
MIT Tech Review: Young Writers Essay Contest, due Oct. 14
Apologies for this late notice, but the MIT Technology Review is hosting a Young Writers Essay Contest with entries due October 14. People 18 or younger may write up to 1,000 words to answer the question, What do adults not know about my generation and technology? The magazine is looking for “clear viewpoints that don’t usually get expressed in mainstream media, explorations of conflicts between adults and younger people, and smart ways of exploding people’s assumptions … originality of thought expressed in lucid, insightful writing.” The winner will receive $500, a one-year subscription, and publication of the essay in the upcoming Youth issue. Up to five finalists will have their essays published online and receive a one-year subscription.
Mass. STEM Week Challenge: Zero Waste
Any Massachusetts K-12 school may register by September 18 to participate in the Zero Waste MA STEM Week Challenge — a part of Massachusetts STEM Week. Project Lead the Way and One8 Foundation’s Mass STEM Hub are sponsoring this real-world design challenge and offering educators free curriculum, training, and opportunities to connect with industry. Themes vary by grade level:
- K-2: Exploring food waste, understanding composting and recycling, and reducing your “foodprint”
- 3-5: Learning about novel energy solutions, understanding unintended consequences, and prototyping a way for your school to use cleaner energy sources
- 6-8: Understanding the impact of microplastics on the environment, animals, and our bodies and creating processes to decrease their spread
- 9-12: Exploring electronic waste and ecotoxicology, understanding the implications of the technology we use every day, and prototyping novel ways to refurbish used technology hardware.
Educators may register here by September 18. Volunteers may register here to be mentors and judges. For more information or to offer your own ideas, email stemweek@mass-stemhub.org.
Free Admission to Museums, Sept. 21, from Smithsonian Magazine
Smithsonian Magazine will sponsor Museum Day on September 21, when you can visit any of 50 museums in Massachusetts, 14 in New Hampshire, and 24 in Rhode Island. Go online to search for a museum and print out a ticket good for free general admission for two people. STEM-oriented museums that are participating include:
Massachusetts
- Amherst College – Beneski Museum of Natural History (free every day)
- Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
- Discovery Museum
- Ecotarium
- Harvard Museum of Natural History
- Museum of Printing
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Apply for Youth Cities L3 Innovation Challenge, Oct. 2-Nov. 13
The L3 Innovation Challenge is a design challenge bootcamp hosted by Youth Cities to immerse middle- and high-school students in innovation, design thinking, entrepreneurial problem-solving, and prototyping. It’s like a 24-hour hackathon, but it’s spread out over seven weeks, during which students play the role of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Innovation Team to address a specified challenge. It has mandatory meetings every Wednesday from 5PM to 8PM from October 2 – November 13 at LabCentral in Cambridge. Pizza is provided. The cost is $570, and need-based scholarships are available. Apply by September 25.
Separately, you can also sign up for notice of Youth Cities’ monthly mini-hacks, which are two-hour white-board brainstorming sessions facilitated by local entrepreneurs and open to middle- or high-school teens, college students, entrepreneurs, educators, public officials, and other working professionals. They’re held at the Cambridge Innovation Center on the second Thursday of each month (except July-August) at 4:30-6:30PM, the same time that the CIC hosts Venture Cafe.
Worcester’s EcoTarium: Half-Price in September
Admission fees (except planetarium and Explorer Express Train) at Worcester’s EcoTarium are half-price in September.
Boys & Girls Club Seeks Paid, Part-Time Instructor for 3D Printing
The Boys and Girls Club of Newton seeks to hire a part-time, paid facilitator/instructor to teach kids the basics of using the TinkerCAD program using the Club’s classroom space and brand new Dremel 3D printer, with the instructor’s own programming. Men and women who are passionate about fostering skills with youth in the Newton community are encouraged to apply. The course will be at the Club on Fridays, 4PM-5PM, from now through May. To apply or get more information, email the Club’s new Education Director, Cassie Soller, at csoller@newtonbgc.com.
Register Now for Destination Imagination 2019-20
Registration is now open for Newton’s Destination Imagination program for the 2019-2020 school year. It’s a volunteer-run STEAM program for Grades K-12 (see video). Teams of 2-7 students form in September (by Grades: K-2, 3-5, 6-9, and 9-12) to address various design challenges throughout the year in preparation for regional tournaments in the early spring and potentially state and global competitions in May. Over 10 years, over 500 Newton students have participated. See this video of what the program means to alumni and volunteers. For this year, teams are currently being formed in the communities of Angier, Cabot, Countryside, Franklin, Horace Mann, Mason Rice, Solomon Schecter, and Underwood schools — and other teams are welcome. Details are in this webinar. The registration fee of $150 is reduced to $50 for adults volunteering to co-manage a team. For more information, contact the founder of the Newton DI program, Matthew Miller at matthew@newtondi.net.
Science Club for Girls Seeks Volunteer Mentor Scientists
The Science Club for Girls is an after-school program that “fosters excitement, confidence and literacy in STEM for girls from underrepresented communities by providing free, experiential programs and by maximizing meaningful interactions with women mentors.” SCFG is currently recruiting mentor scientists to lead clubs and serve as role mondels. You can apply here for these locations, days, and grade levels:
- Cambridge: Tuesdays (Grades K-5), Fridays (Grades K-5 and 4-5)
- Dorchester: Fridays (Grades 4-5)
- Somerville: Tuesdays (Grades 3-5), Wednesdays (Grades K-5)
Code Ninjas: Back-to-School Contest due Aug. 31; Free Digital Art Workshop Aug. 13
In the month of August, Code Ninjas in Wellesley will hold a social-media Back-to-School contest that will award a $500 prize pack (including iPad) to the winner and a $1,000 donation to the winner’s school. Submissions are due August 31.
Also, Code Ninjas will host a free Digital Art Workshop for ages 7-14 on August 13, 1:30-3:30PM, to teach how to use Scratch to make artwork. Space is limited and registration is required.