Watsonville Environmental Science Workshop

"don't let school get in the way of your education" - mark twain

The Watsonville Environmental Science Workshop is not only a broad after-school program. It is also a unique community resource. The Workshop complements the science and math education our students get from schools, and allows them to pursue the technical areas of their own interests. The Workshop gives community kids and their families the opportunity to explore together in a rich, stimulating, and safe environment with adults present who care about their development, not only in academics or science, but also as whole people.

The core of our program is the open-structure, open-door Workshop. After school and on Saturdays, community kids and their families are free to come and construct the projects of their imaginations. While they are here, they experience our exhibits and project models in addition to whatever project they choose to construct. They learn to use tools and a plethora of different materials. Thus, students can learn science, math and engineering from direct experience. They get the opportunity to learn through inquiry, exploration and peer consultation. The competence they gain builds true confidence. All the while, they are subconsciously defining for themselves “science,” and the definition involves fun and success. All this is markedly different from what most of them get in school.

In addition to the core Workshop program, we take our most popular hands-on science projects to around 18 local school sites through our Science Teach program, in which lead teachers and high-school students team up to do the teaching. The SH Cowell Foundation and other after-school grants through the Pajaro Valley Unified School District provide support for the Science Teach Project. Two alternative high schools bring their classes to the Workshop once a week for a formal hands-on science lesson complete with notes and write-up. Several field trips and camping trips each year get students out into the local environment. We work closely with the other environmental education programs of the City of Watsonville. Teachers frequent the Workshop for informal consultations on how to succeed with hands-on lessons for their classes, and we occasionally do mass teacher training as well.

Our funding comes approximately 2/3 from the City and 1/3 from grants and school district support for our work with schools. Everything we do employs recycled, reclaimed and scrap objects, so that students are made firmly aware of the value and potential of the materials around them. Conservation principles are conveyed, as well as the presence of science in everyday life: students become aware that science is everywhere, not just in special labs and kits. In addition, this practice keeps our costs low and our Workshop sustainable. We always welcome donations of interesting junk.

Tags: Education