Project Exploration is all about changing the face of science—and they’re doing just that with hands on after school programs like this robotics class.
"It's creativity...while you are building stuff and following instructions you're also having fun with it and learning new things," said student Catia Hopson.
All the after school programs Project Exploration offers are science based and because they previously won $55,000 in NBC's Project Innovation grant challenge, they were able to expand the number of programs they offer.
Project Innovation is a competitive grant program presented locally by NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago in partnership with the NBCUniversal Foundation.
Project Exploration STEM Learning Center Manager Kelsey Galante said that money was able to go toward building a space and “training our staff and bringing in materials that allow students to participate in authentic science.”
According to a statement released, “the stations and the Foundation will present a second round of $225,000 in grants to local organizations that are addressing local community issues through innovative solutions around four grant categories.”
“It’s a key component of the stations’ signature ‘Making A Difference’ community outreach,” said David Doebler, President and General Manager of WMAQ and WSNS. “We can’t wait to award the money and see it put to good use in the Chicago area.”
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Originally, the Project Exploration organization targeted middle school students in the Austin community, until they noticed many of them were bringing younger siblings or cousins along with them—thanks in part to winning the grant money.
“We were able to find somebody to come in and work with the younger students so now they are also getting a STEM experience and have a safe place to go after school,” said Operations Director Kamentha Pillay.
Applications for Project Innovation opened Jan. 11, 2019 and will close on Feb. 15, 2019. Project Innovation 2019 grant winners will be announced by the stations in April 2019.
For more information and to preview the grant application, click here.
To access information in Spanish, click here.
