More than 150 families gathered at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center on March 7th to celebrate the new STEM launch initiative, working to bring science, technology, engineering and math opportunities to the Evanston community. The event introduced residents to the center’s goal of becoming a more STEM-focused environment and a place for families to explore creative, hands-on learning.
Fleetwood’s launch hosted many interactive activities through several organizational partnerships with Northwestern University, the YMCA, WonderLabs and more. As families came and gathered, children grades K-8 rotated through various activity stations, including the popular laser tag station, which showcased the science behind the fun technology. Other stations included aviation engineering, robotics programming challenges, where students created routes for robots, and DJ mixing with music composition. These activities helped present design skills and showed how STEM concepts connect to the interests of young people.
Because a majority of the attendees were younger children, most in 4th grade or younger, the program’s next phase aims to draw more middle school students.
Aripo Dada, a Northwestern staff member and active partner with Fleetwood who works at the community center and helped plan the event, shared that their intent is accessibility for the community.
“We launched the STEM hub here to have a place that families throughout Evanston can come do STEM activities,” expresses Dada.
Dada explained that the Hub is meant to serve the entire community, not solely the Fifth Ward, allowing everyone to see change in Evanston.
“Families can come here and see the different activities and organizations all in one place, whether it’s robotics, music production, or even language learning,” said Dada, “There are ways to connect what kids are interested in to science and technology.”
Fleetwood’s future plans include building studios for digital media and creating more programs in connection with nearby schools to continue focusing on science and engineering.
Karen Perkins, the coordinator of the event and community Arts Division Manager, has big goals for the center’s renovations.
Perkins is trying to shift Fleetwood and the Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center on Church and Dodge, beyond STEM and into a focus on STEAM, connecting science and technology with other aspects of community programming such as art, theater and sports.
But for now, Perkins says that “the highlight of [the launch] was seeing the amount of people come through the doors. We know that this is our launching point.”
Fleetwood hopes to expand its programming over the next few years, slowly including more workshops and monthly events like the themed laser tag nights, aviation simulations, and STEAM-focused workshops.
The idea began last summer when the center’s staff and community partners began to expand their educational resources in the North Shore area. Research conducted at Northwestern showed a strong interest from parents in more technology programming at Fleetwood, a task that Dada and others went forward with.
“We know that a lot of young people in Evanston don’t necessarily have connectivity to STEM, so we need to get people in the door,” Perkins commented. “Once they’re here, we can connect that excitement to things like robotics or flight simulation.”
Ultimately, the center’s end goal is to make the hub more STEM-based. Organizers plan to conduct more laser tag events each month with different themes for middle and even high school students.
Perkins hopes the STEM launch will prepare young people for their futures. “Our goal is to build workforce development pathways and college pathways. We really want to get more innovative and think about how technology connects and can be fun too.”
Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center’s STEM launch event drew in more than 150 families across Evanston, a huge turnout for the program’s soft launch. It highlighted many different great investments for the youth of Evanston, showcasing the little amongst many opportunities in the community.
Their work does not stop here and is only growing. Fleetwood’s next event features another themed laser tag, scheduled for March 20th, so make sure to check it out and enjoy all the STEM fun.
