• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

CELEBS GIVE BACK educational leadership. Te frst school to environmental sciences, forensics — mem- say that in our 10th year, we’ve grown work with the organization, on what she bers of the FBI have visited as guest speakers by word of mouth … and the people that calls “a leap of faith,” was the Bettie F. Wil- — and entrepreneurship, where students [Pharrell has] come in contact with [who] liams Elementary School in Virginia Beach. spend weeks researching and then pitch- learn of his organization and [want] to help.” From One Hand to AnOTHER (FOHTA) ing products in the style of “Shark Tank.” Back at Bettie F. Williams Elementary, isn’t just about Googling faraway places, Last year, students visited Eastern Virginia the school that launched it all with an though. At summer camps for elementary Medical School. “Te kids were put in afer-school STEM tutoring program, the Stars and middle school students — plus FOHTA stations, and they got to work with various project continues, and the impact endures. will pilot a high school camp this summer medical procedures,” says Dr. Williams. Te program expanded to summer — teachers engage students in a STEAMM “For me, the most powerful [part] was camp in 2012, a fve-week session with “a curriculum and bring the world to under- actually seeing and touching organs.” full-day school day, all day, with transpor- privileged children in their schools, places of Students also can take classes in Spanish tation, breakfast and lunch, a strong STEM worship and community centers. (Te last M or Mandarin and dance, and they have curriculum, feld trips to museums and is for “motivation.” Te program uses “dream recess along with breakfast and lunch. NASA, visits from astronauts, Skyping with and STEM mapping” to focus and inspire students, Tere’s also a course on media technology: world-famous contributors to science, and helping them research their goals and chart Te students “choose a topic that they think students presenting amazing projects,” says a course to get there.) Tis summer, FOHTA their peers should know about … they Timothy P. Sullivan, the principal. But he expects to host more than 2,000 campers in research their topic, and how they share points out, too, that “the work of FOHTA 28 locations in seven states. their information with their peers is is not limited to fve weeks in the summer Trough Pharrell’s friendship with for- through a public service announcement and afer-school tutoring. Dr. Williams and mer Detroit Lions wide receiver and retired [of] 30 to 60 seconds. Te PSA is completely [COO] Stacey Lopez make frequent visits Align NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, FOHTA done by the kids. Tey research, they write to our school throughout the year and visit has been able to work with NASA’s Summer the storyboards, they edit, they flm it, they our kids — who are also their kids.” of Innovation program, launched in 2010. act in it, the whole nine yards,” she says. To see a behind-the-scenes video of Celebrities use their fame At the time, Melvin was NASA’s associate “We have been blessed enough to, as of last FOHTA students creating their PSA, go to administrator for education, and his project year, have a 1:1 iPad capability. So now as pharrellwilliams.com/cat/4/309#. to bring atention to STEM had been designed to “advance excellence in opposed to the flming and the cameras … summer and extended learning for under- they are able to use GarageBand and iMovie HGEENA DAVIS education and diversity represented and underserved middle school and at one point we had Pixton to create Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media students to inspire them toward future their public service announcement.” Te year before actress Geena Davis starred BY CARY MIDLAND STEM pursuits,” aligning pretty perfectly FOHTA works with Title 1 schools be- as the frst U.S. female president on the with FOHTA’s mission. cause, Dr. Williams says of their communi- television show “Commander in Chief,” Te STEM curriculum also includes cod- ties, “Tat’s where Pharrell and I came from, in 2005, she founded the Geena Davis ing and other aspects of computer science, and we want to give back. … I am pleased to Institute on Gender in Media. “When my daughter was a toddler, I began watching children’s TV with her, and I was stunned Students take part in STEM activities through Pharrell’s to notice what seemed to be a huge gender From One Hand to AnOTHER disparity in entertainment made for young nonprofit. kids, and it occurred to me that this was a very unhealthy message to send to kids in n addition to providing entertainment HPHARRELL WILLIAMS about diferent cultures,” she says. the 21st century,” says Davis. for all to enjoy, many celebrities use From One Hand to AnOTHER Pharrell’s vision — the creative force Tat’s why she created the institute: their status to promote STEM educa- Pharrell Williams wasn’t always the inter- that gave fans the song “Happy,” which he “to show all kids — boys and girls — that tion and diversity initiatives through- nationally renowned singer and music and wrote and performed, and the flm “Hidden women take up half the space and do half of out the country. Singer Zendaya and flm producer that he is now. So when he Figures,” which he co-produced and helped the interesting things in the world and have INBA superstar LeBron James worked with started traveling the world, the exposure score — didn’t play out exactly as planned. half of the dreams and ambitions,” says the Verizon’s #weneedmore campaign last year made an impression. He believed, says his Instead, what developed in his hometown star of “Te Accidental Tourist,” for which supporting STEM opportunities and future mother, Dr. Carolyn Williams, that chil- of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was bigger. “We she won an Academy Award. What kids see careers for children in underserved com- dren shouldn’t miss out on seeing the world realized that going to the kids, going to the on-screen though, according to research by munities, and “Te Wonder Years” actress just because they lacked the means. “His centers, going to the schools made it more the institute, is twice as many male actors Danica McKellar has written children’s initial thought was … to create a computer accessible for the kids. And we were able to in lead roles as women, even though women books about mathematics. Here’s a look at resource center, and that way, with comput- touch more kids that way,” says Dr. Williams, make up 51 percent of the U.S. population. what other stars are doing to bring about ers, they will have an opportunity to visit board chair and director of education for To help rectify that, researchers at the in- social change and help serve today’s youth. places virtually and learn lots of things the nonproft, who has a doctorate in stitute, which is sponsored by Mount Saint SPRING SPECIAL 2018 31 30 Diversity in Action | SPRING SPECIAL 2018 | Diversity in Action CELEBS GIVE BACK Plenty of other celebrities use their Yasmintheresa visibility to promote STEM education Garcia and applications. Here are just a few you can find out more about. Who: Ne-Yo Day job: Singer/songwriter What: The Holberton School, San Francisco, holbertonschool.com The Holberton School is a two-year, higher- education, full-stack software engineering program that uses project-based learning. Who: Karlie Kloss Day job: Model Geena Davis speaks at the Students experiment in the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Stan Lee at the What: Kode with Klossy, kodewithklossy.com Geena Davis Institute’s Blue School’s middle school mission with Skyhook Experimental Aircraft The program holds two-week camps in 2016 Global Symposium STEAM lab. There is a second Foundation is to “give kids a Association’s AirVenture 10 cities for girls age 13 to 18, where they in New York City. lab in the elementary school. shot that can’t be blocked.” Oshkosh event in July 2017. learn to code and build apps. There also PHOTO: DAN WINTERS DAN PHOTO: are scholarships for older students for the nine-month coding program at New York’s Mary’s University in Los Angeles, study City, combining technology, art, music and STEAM education. With the school’s roots are powerful forces that pull young people HSTAN LEE Flatiron School’s Learn.co online campus. representation in flm and present fndings comedy to create a performance that now is in theatrical performance, “STEAM has away from pursuing the sciences. We hope Stan Lee Foundation to industry executives and content creators, in more than 20 countries. always been a part of our DNA,” for each that we can steer young students to STEM Peter Parker was just an average high school Who: Chance the Rapper Day job: Hip-hop artist and producer making recommendations for how better to In 2006, with children not far from grade level, says Rob Gilson, the school’s subjects,” says Abdul-Jabbar. Trough kid before an irradiated spider’s bite turned What: SocialWorks, socialworkschi.org feature girls and women in character selec- kindergarten, they and their partners STEAM specialist. For example, “Te its fagship program Camp Skyhook, the him into Spider-Man. STEM doesn’t get SocialWorks’ mission is to expose youth in tion and plot lines, among other factors. founded the nonproft Blue School in New seventh graders explore civil engineering foundation along with the Los Angeles Uni- any more iconic than that. And Stan Lee, Chicago to programming “with access to Using what they’ve termed the Geena Davis York City, because of a “desire to provide an in our STEAM Lab, researching and fed School District (LAUSD) brings STEM who co-created Spider-Man, Black Panther arts, music and coding as a means to express Inclusion Quotient (GD-IQ), researchers educational structure for our children that prototyping diferent facets of urban design.

Load more

  2

Copy Link