Some children in the Conejo Valley who come from low-income families and are behind in school are taking a special course to help close the achievement gap. An astronomy class is a key part of the program.
Second graders are learning a lesson on a mission to Mars. They watch a video on the launch of the Atlas 5 rocket carrying the Mars rover.
“It looks reddish because the rocks are red,” says seven-year-old Valeria Melgar, who's describing the planet.
She’s one of 60 second through fourth grade students from the Conejo Valley Unified School District enrolled in this free program called Find My Genius taking place at Conejo Elementary School in Thousand Oaks.
“I liked that I learned a lot of things. This will be my favorite part of the day,” she says.
The children learn a wide range of subjects including language and literature as well as STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math. The program is a collaboration between Building Educated Leaders for Life known as BELL and the YMCA. The idea is to improve the academic achievement of these kids who come from poor families and are performing below grade level.
Program director Isabel Pelayo says she’s already seen progress.
“They’re more confident. They’re more committed to learning and they’re excited about owning their own learning,” she says.
Find My Genius takes learning a step further with an emphasis on hands-on activities.
“Let’s build some Atlas 5 rockets and put your little rover in the nose cone,” says science teacher Carol Mallett.
She instructs the kids to use colorful magnetic tiles to build their own rockets.
“We make it not that tall. If you make it so tall, it might fall or collapse,” says seven-year-old Anthony Pena.
He then takes a hexbug. It’s a small automated toy that moves around and it represents the Mars rover. He places it in his rocket’s nose cone.
“Because only the top part is the safe part. So, the top part has a parachute so it can land softly, not hard,” he says.
Mallett says this hands-on experience is invaluable.
“These kids will be experiencing something that we haven’t envisioned yet. So, just giving them the chance to build and think on their own is what they need. They don’t need to memorize the past. They need to be able to experience building, feeling, touching, creating, so they can be part of the present and future,” she says.
Pena says he’s inspired.
“I really want to be an astronaut when I grow up so I can engineer the rocketships, so I can go to space or Mars or see different planets,” he says.
And that’s what Find My Genius is all about – getting underserved kids excited to learn, which can translate into academic success and help close the achievement gap.