MLK Day event for kids had a science twist
STEAM celebration emphasizes black history
Azad Smith, a fourth grader at Faison K-5 in Homewood, wasn’t eager to spend a day off from school thinking about science and engineering.
But once inside The Maker’s Clubhouse Dream STEAM celebration in Homewood on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he got to play an unusual version of the classic arcade game Pac-Man.
Instead of using a conventional video game controller, Azad put one hand on an apple and the other on an orange.
Both pieces of fruit contained circuits connected to a laptop screen that displayed the game.
As his hands moved the fruit in various directions, Azad’s body acted as a conductor to complete an electric circuit that powered the game.
“I liked that,” said Azad, whose favorite subject at school is math.
The MLK Day Dream STEAM event, held at Bible Center Church on North Homewood Avenue, was filled with stations like Pac-Man where children ages 5-11 participated in hands-on experiments and activities.
STEAM means the content of the activities focused on science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.
But in honor of the Rev. King, a civil rights activist, this Dream STEAM event also emphasized the contributions of black scientists like Charles Drew, a surgeon who developed storage techniques for blood and plasma.
“Today we’re combining STEAM and black history,” said India Harris, program manager for the clubhouse, an education initiative of Bible Center Church, which has a mission to spark social change in Homewood.
The day’s agenda also included a black history scavenger hunt, black history bingo and a lesson about Lewis Latimer, a black inventor who developed patented technology that significantly improved Thomas Edison’s lightbulb.
Activities scheduled for the gymnasium at the YMCA’s Homewood branch included games and lessons about black athletes such as Jesse Owens, a track and field Olympic gold medalist, and Jackie Robinson, the first black player to play Major League Baseball.
About 80 children were signed up to attend Monday’s free event, but Ms. Harris was concerned that sub-freezing weather might deter some in the neighborhood who walk to the program.
By midmorning, those who made it were crowding around stations like the one where they could assemble their own plasma bags.
Volunteers from the UPMC Mercy School of Nursing guided the children as they filled Ziploc bags with white rice that represented white blood cells, Cheerios cereal representing platelets, licorice representing red blood cells and vegetable oil
representing liquid plasma.
The bag served as the blood vessel.
“Knowledge is power especially in health,” said Tyla Paige Epps, a recent nursing school graduate who now works at the hospital’s intensive care unit.
She also holds a bachelor of science in gerontology from California University of Pennsylvania.
She and fellow volunteers Marissa Grega, a nursing student, and Milan Harris, who works at UPMC Magee-Womens Hosptial’s medical surgical unit, said they showed up for the event on a day off from work and school because they understand the value of providing hands-on experiences in science and other STEAM topics to children.
“Science fairs and things like this are a lot of exposure … and it’s good to be giving back in any way that’s beneficial to the kids,” said Ms. Harris, who is India Harris’ sister.
At a station overseen by two criminology majors from Slippery Rock University, children could make their own fingerprints and learn how the prints are used by law enforcement agencies.
It was the final day of semester break for student volunteers Ronnay Sirmons, of the South Side, and Carlie Sittig, of Mount Washington.
They planned to return to Slippery Rock’s campus in Butler County on Monday evening after the Dream STEAM event ended.
“What better way to start back for the semester than with volunteering,” said Ms. Sirmons, who wants to be a juvenile probation officer so she can “turn around kids’ lives for the better.”
The Maker’s Clubhouse offers after-school programs daily to more than 100 children at two public schools in the city: Lincoln PreK-5 in Larimer and Faison K-5 in Homewood.
In addition to its STEAM-focused activities, it provides homework help, tutoring and character development.
Monday’s event — which included breakfast and lunch for participants — was staffed largely by volunteers including individuals from Homewood Children’s Village, AmeriCorps, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, the University of Pittsburgh Biomedical Engineering Society, the Coro Center for Civic Leadership and Reading is Fundamental.