Recent Events in Yakima / Tri cities;

Details for Acceso a la Ciencia Youth Outreach Program

Interviews of Acceso Intern Applicants 4/9/07-4/27/07 at Pasco High School (3 hours)

Met with interested students in doing the Acceso Internship. Gave them applications and required an essay of why they would like to be an intern for Acceso a la Ciencia. Collected applications and essays from students within a week of interview.

Make Meaning Workshop and Customers Service 101 Training, Tuesday May 1, 2007 (3 hours)

Held training at Stevens Middle School. All 13 students were in attendance. Students attended training and met Vicky Raya and Bryn Fluharty from Pacific Science Center. Vicky and Bryn presented the whole training. The feedback we got from the interns was that they really enjoyed the Customer Service 101 training. They really enjoyed the Give them the Pickle video. It taught them how to treat the customer well and for them to go the extra mile.

Explainer 101 Training, Planetarium Show and Exhibit Training, Wednesday May 2, 2007 (3 hours)

Held training at Stevens Middle School. All 13 students were in attendance. Students attended the planetarium show and got to go through the space and rock exhibits. They were also given Explainer 101 training. Interns learned how to be approachable and how to explain exhibits. Some feedback from the interns was that the training was fun and very educational.

Cinco de Mayo Event, Downtown Pasco, May 5, 2007 (8 hours)

Out of the 13 interns only 10 were able to attend all day. They arrived early in the mid-morning to help set up the exhibits. They were given a schedule for them to follow on that day. Interns commented on how they liked helping the kids better understand the exhibits. They got involved with both the child and parent. Something they noted about the exhibits was that it was too crowded and that more space would be nice. Something else they really liked was that it was a really good experience because it helped them gain more social skills. They felt that the trainings they received really helped them be prepared for when working with the public. The interns stayed at the event until everything was packed up and ready to go.

5 de Mayo debriefing, Monday May 14, 2007 (3 hours)

Held debriefing at Stevens Middle School. All 13 students attended the training. Vicky presented a science demonstration to the interns so that they could get a feel for what the Pacific Science Center has to offer as science shows and also offered little refresher tips on work etiquette and code of conduct. Interns also went over a Memorandum of Understanding and a Questioning Strategies Workshop. Interns felt that the training was helpful in teaching them how to interact with people and kids. They would like more practice and information on the exhibits.

Toppenish Festival, Saturday, May 20, 2007 (6 hours)

Had only 10 interns attend the event. The Pacific Science Center displayed the same exhibits as Cinco de Mayo. This time the interns rotated through out all of the exhibits and family science activities. They also rotated through the wildlife tables and the Radio KDNA booth. The interns were able to get familiarized with the exhibits since they had more space. They were able to better interact with the visitors since they were not as crowded as they were at Cinco de Mayo. The interns seem to be more familiar with the exhibits that they presented to the community.

Pre-Ropes Course Meeting, June 1, 2007 PHS (30 mins)

Met with the interns to hand out summer agenda and to go over dress code for the ropes course training. Handed out permission slips and explained the times for the events. A ropes Course training was scheduled for the interns to get better acquainted and to learn how to work as one team. All 13 students attended this meeting.

Ropes Course Training, June 13, 2007 (10 hours)

Met out at the Columbia Ropes Course at Columbia Park. The purpose of this event was for the Acceso Interns to build trust within each other and also to learn how to work as a team as challenges arise. Present at the ropes course training was Vicky Raya and Bryn Fluharty from Pacific Science Center. Jesus Mota and Jorge Moreno also attended the training. The outcome of this event was perfect. The interns showed much strength that had not been demonstrated before and their commitments to the elements were outstanding. The interns connected naturally with each other and were able to trust onto each other without any questioning. Some of their comments were that, “it was worth them trying something that they had never tried before; overcoming fear is definitely a lesson to learn”. They commented on how they can now relate that experience to overcoming fears with real life. Something that I observed from the interns was the skills that some of the interns displayed and how they played such a strong role in the problem solving of the obstacles that were presented to them. These interns were the ones that typically come across as the shy and not the self-starters, so for the rest of team to observe this in their team mates, I feel was very important for the rest the Acceso a la Ciencia internship. All 13 interns attended on this day.

Interns to Campus, June 15, 2007 (6 hours)

Interns came to WSU-TC campus to prepare a presentation that they will present about their role in Acceso to their parents on June 22, 2007. They broke off into teams and put together a PowerPoint. They also got a tour of the campus and had lunch at the Magic Bean Café. The interns were able to put together a presentation without much of my assistance. They seemed confident in their role as an intern and the importance of the Acceso a la Ciencia grant. Only 11 of the interns were able to attend this meeting.

Intern Parent Night Dinner, WSU-TC, June 22, 2007

A dinner was hosted for the parents of the Acceso a la Ciencia interns at WSU-TC. A presentation that was put together by the interns was presented to the parents by the interns. They all did a really good job. They were all able to present their slides in both English and Spanish for our non-English speaking parents. The purpose of this dinner was for the parents to become familiar with the internship that their student is a part of. The purpose of this dinner was to also introduce the training that the interns would be receiving at the Pacific Science Center in July 2007. The parents commented on how happy they were that their teen was being part of such an important cause and of how supportive they were for the PSC training. Only 11 of the families were able to attend the dinner. For the families that were not able to attend I mailed out an agenda for the trip along with a letter and my contact information.

Boys & Girls Club, July 12, 2007

At this event we asked for two of interns to volunteer their time to help out presenting family science activities. This event took place at the Boys and Girls Club in Pasco. We offered a free dinner and show from the Pacific Science Center. As parents picked up their students from the B&G club, they also stopped for dinner and fun. The two interns took responsibility for their booths and interacted with the children visiting their table. They not only took responsibility for their booth but they also helped clean up after the event.

Interns visit Pacific Science Center, July 18, 19, 20, 2007

Acceso a la Ciencia Interns visited the PSC in Seattle for an orientation from human resources and training with PSC personal. They also had some free time to tour the PSC and have fun. The interns were in Seattle for three days. They not only got to spend time shadowing with PSC personal but they got to experience Seattle culture. The interns spent their first day at the center going through the orientation and shadowing. They then finished the evening by joining PSC discovery corps. interns for games and pizza and then IMAX film. The second day the interns spent more time training at the PSC by shadowing and watching science demos. In the afternoon the interns headed for the Aquarium and the Seattle Art Museum. Some of the interns were not looking forward to the Seattle Art Museum, but we still took them all. The great thing out of that experience was that they then were happy that they got the experience and really enjoyed it. The next day was a day full of fun for the interns. They got to go on a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island and walk around for a while. We then headed back to Seattle and had lunch at the Pike’s Market. We then headed back to the hotel to get on bus to go home. Some of the comments that the interns made were, “Fun and educational, learned a lot at PSC”, “Great opportunity to take a different culture in”, “Fun and enjoy it a lot”, “Fun, while learning”.

Exhibit Training / Senior Narrative Introduction July 23, 2007

Vicky Raya and Bryn Fluharty gave this training to the interns at WSU-TC campus. The purpose of this training was for the interns to get more familiarity with the exhibits, to increase an understanding of the scientific concepts behind the exhibits and to provide practice time for interpreting the exhibits. The students have only had a couple of events to spend time becoming familiar with the exhibits but they had not received any type of background training on the exhibits. In the afternoon the interns were introduced to How to write a senior narrative by Laura Cook. The introduction to the senior narrative writing was beneficial to the seniors and they commented on how they would use that information gathered to write their personal statement for college and scholarship applications. All 13 interns were able to attend the training.

Granger National Night Out, August 6, 2007 Granger

Third community event written in the grant. Had 9 interns work at the event. They all showed up on time to the bus and ready to work. The interns were picked up at Pasco High School and then transported by bus to Granger. The interns were quick to help set up for the event. They like to help with the whole event and they tend to wonder away from the PSC exhibits to help out with the setting up of the tents and family science activities. I had to touch base with them individually that the priority for them to set up are the exhibits and then if additional help is needed they can help with the rest. However, their willingness to help is only seen as a positive thing but in order for them become experts with what they are presenting is by them setting up and breaking down the exhibits at all events.

Secret Scientist Show demonstration, August 23, 2007

Vicky Raya and Bryn Fluharty were down from the PSC to present the Secret Scientist Show to the interns. For the second year of the grant, the PSC will provide new exhibits and a show for the interns to present at community events. This was the first glimpse of what the show will look like. The interns seemed to enjoy the show presentation and they are willing to take on the challenge of presenting the show. For this event only 10 of the interns were able to attend.

Wapato Festival, September 3, 2007

Had 10 interns work the PSC exhibits at the festival. The festival included a carnival, so the attention was focused mainly on the rides and the traffic that went through the exhibit area was very slow. Interns put in an average of 6 hours at this event. The interns were able to set up the exhibits without much instruction and they were able to interact with the visitors without any hesitation. The interns were very well prepared for this event. We didn’t have a heavy volume of visitors like the Cinco de Mayo event, but I feel that this may be helpful to the interns not being overwhelmed when interacting with the visitors.

Acceso a la Ciencia Farming Exhibits Expo @ Stevens Middle School, October 18, 2007

Attended Expo at Stevens Middle School to provide support to PSC staff on intake information. I surveyed families that went through the farming exhibits and acknowledged all of the comments and suggestions. The PSC staff got lots of feedback from the public which is what their goal was. They wanted feedback from this community to prototype the exhibits for them to be ready by the Cinco de Mayo festival. No interns attended this event.

Middle School Conference @ Sunnyside, WA, November 3, 2007

Acceso a la Ciencia Interns hosted one of the workshops that were offered to the Middle School students. They presented a PowerPoint about Acceso and their position with-in Acceso. They also set up the exhibits for the students to play with. Both Vicky and I were very impressed with the way that the interns took ownership with the exhibits. The students were given the instructions of setting up the exhibits and the classroom they were to use. From there the students set up the tables on how they were most useful and then they set up the exhibits to their choice. The six were very organized and communicated very well with each other. They were also able to troubleshoot the computer and projector for the PowerPoint presentation. Once again they worked as a team and communicated very well. We had the three interns that presented get paid and the other three went were volunteers. They helped in the setting up and cleaning up for the conference. The interns put in an average of 9 hours that day. The students that attended the workshop had a really good time with exhibits and only wished to have more time playing with the exhibits.

Secret Scientist Show Presentation @ Mark Twain, November 9, 2007

PSC team, Vicky Raya, Bryn Fluharty and a third person presented the Acceso a la Ciencia Secret Scientist show for the first time in our community to Mark Twain Elementary in Pasco. Interns were invited to the presentation to observe the show that they will be presenting in the near future. Not all of the interns were able to make the show on time; however we still had about half of them attend. The interns seemed to like the show and they are expecting a detailed training this coming spring.

WSU Family Fun Day, November 17, 2007

Four of the Acceso a la Ciencia Interns worked Family Fun Day. They were responsible for setting up the exhibits in the CIC building and helped clean up after the event. Once the interns finished packing the exhibits, they all assisted the youth coordinator in the grade school workshops. The interns put in an average of 7 hours for this event. They really enjoyed being able to participate in other parts of the events besides the exhibits. This group of interns was different from those that attended the Middle school Conference and once again they did a really good job setting up the exhibits. They did such a good job communicating with each other and they took very good care of the exhibits while the people visited the site. With them spending more time with the exhibits they seem to have taken ownership. Vicky from the PSC is able to set up her presentation without having to worry about the interns setting up or breaking down the exhibits. It is obvious that the students have improved with their knowledge from the very first event they attended.

Career MashUp project survey, December 6, 2007

Connection made through Bob Russell/ Celebra la Ciencia was made through Laura Cook and was then recommended to Alicia Santiago writer for the Career MashUp project. I made contact with Alicia Santiago and she asked if the interns could participate and take a look at the mock website that they were going to submit to NSF. Three of the interns were able to come onto campus and participate for the project. They looked through the mock website and gave their suggestions and feedback. We should hear back from Alicia later on this next year once the grant is approved through NSF. Alicia would like more participation from the interns and possibly have the students first ones to create their profiles on the Career MashUp website.

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