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March 2021 Network News


We have some exciting online content to be sharing with you in this month's newsletter. As a community of practice, our aim is to offer quality resources and learning opportunities to support you in your teen science café program efforts. In this month's newsletter, we've included links to several YouTube videos, highlighting our TSCN Movement Webinar Series. This series includes recorded webinars focused on (1) hosting online, interactive teen science cafés; and (2) developing an online communications hub.

We're grateful for CU Science Discovery and The Academy of Science -- St. Louis! Special thanks to these organizations and their staff for sharing their teen science café innovations & talents with the Network. Visit our TSCN Movement YouTube page to view these community of practice webinars.

We also we shine the Spotlight on fellow Adult Leader, Bree Oatman of the South Dakota Discovery Center's STEM Savvy Teen Science Café. Bree highlights how STEM Savvy teens recently embraced virtual programming with a very cool café.  The full Spotlight may be read on TSCN's website.

Next, our April Café Breaks Virtual Water Cooler Series will be held on Thursday, April 1st & 15th. Please join us for a 30 minute video call to share your thoughts, ideas, opportunities, challenges, and anything else. Sign up below: Lastly, we invite you to view and consider participating in EarthEcho International's OurEcho Challenge. Please share this opportunity with your network.

Thank you for your continuous support of advancing informal science education for teens in your communities!
 
Sincerely, 
 
The TSCN Leadership Team 
 
Michelle Hall
Michael Mayhew
Louis Jeantete

P.S. Are you on LinkedIn? Connect with us on our recently formed Teen Science Café Network LinkedIn Group. Join the group today!
 

Spotlight on Bree Oatman

Meet a fellow Adult Leader!

The Teen Science Café Network is thrilled to shine the Adult Leader Spotlight on Bree Oatman of the South Dakota Discovery Center's STEM Savvy Teen Science Café program in Pierre, South Dakota. The South Dakota Discovery Center is "dedicated to providing hands-on science learning through [their] exhibit hall, classes for children and families, and resources for educators and youth program leaders in order to increase science literacy." Bree is a science educator with more than 20 years experience in formal classroom & informal learning environments.

We've included a snapshot of Bree's Spotlight interview, which may be read in full on the Teen Science Café Network's homepage.
 

What has been your favorite Café? What made it so?

My favorite Café, was our most recent one. We invited someone who used to work for NASA Mission Control and now works for USGS EROS. We played a game of Among Us and had a live stream of the game. We took time between rounds and during the game to talk about the different systems on the ship and how they relate to real life and to ask Ryan questions about his career and life. This was the first time the youth really took ownership of the virtual platform and that was cool to see. A couple of the students want to just get together and play video games on Twitch and talk about science and put in a plug for STEM Savvy on a regular basis.

Thank you Bree for advancing informal science education with teens in Pierre, South Dakota with STEM Savvy!
Read the full Spotlight!

Interactive Cafés & Virtual Planning Mtg. Room

Interactive Cafés: Have you ever wondered how to host engaging, interactive teen science cafés online? You're not alone! We're happy to share how the CU Science Discovery's staff recently inspired Network members with tips and ideas for increasing virtual participation and engagement. CU's Science Discovery staff--Alexandra Rose, Scott Sieke, and Stacey Forsyth--guided adult leaders through a fascinating webinar featuring online tools, café activities, and facilitation tips for hosting an engaging event. This team walked webinar viewers through icebreakers and online interactive presentation tools. They suggested interactive websites, demonstrated how to conduct an at home building activity, and offered online engagement tips. The team demonstrated the use of the following tools: Google Jamboard, Kahoot, Zoom Polling, and CU's very own PhET Interactive Simulations project. We've uploaded a recording of this webinar for your viewing on our TSCN Movement YouTube Channel. 
Interactive Virtual Teen Science Cafés
Part 1: Constructing a Communications Hub: Organizing, collaborating, and communicating virtually has presented adult leaders with a chance to bring innovative ideas to their café sites and the teens they support. Natalie Jo Bachmann & Rose Jansen, staff and adult leaders from The Academy of Science – St. Louis seized the opportunity to support the youth leaders they serve by creating a centralized virtual planning meeting room using Google Slides. As Natalie and Rose prepared for this very unique café season, a central question drove their coordinating efforts, "how could they place everything teens would need throughout the year in one easily accessible and engaging virtual location?" Drawing inspiration from teachers and their virtual classrooms, the duo created a Communications Hub using Google Slides to centralize their café's calendar, important documents, announcements, program forms, and other multimedia features. During their recent Network-wide webinar, Natalie & Rose guided viewers through a demonstration of the Communications Hub, aka Virtual Planning Meeting Room, and offered a detailed tutorial on how to set up a virtual meeting room, complete with a Bitmoji, linked slides & icons, and tips for sharing the virtual space with teens.  Part 2 of this communication hub exploration will be available in our April Network News publication.
 
Part 1: Constructing a Communications Hub

Virtual Water Cooler Innovations

Twice a month, Teen Science Café Network team members host adult leaders for Café Breaks: A Virtual Water Cooler Series to share their thoughts, ideas, innovations, challenges, and anything else café related. At our recent virtual water cooler event, we asked adult leaders the following question: If you could direct your cafés teen leaders to attend a teen focused webinar(s) to advance their café experience, what would be the topic and content you'd want to see discussed during the webinar? 

As a result of this discussion, Suraida Nañez-James of the Gulf Reach Teen Science Café in Corpus Christi shared a health & wellness effort her teen science café program is seeking to implement. 

Here's a recap of the innovative and relevant plan, as authored by Suraida Nañez James:

Many teens around the country have been suffering from isolation due to Covid restrictions; for some, there are significant mental health issues involved. Suraida Nañez-James of the Gulf Reach Teen Science Café in Corpus Christi is developing an innovative plan for incorporating an introductory teen wellness element within a teen café session.

Suraida writes, 
 
“The center here is part of the university but specifically ran by the College of Education and Human Development.  In order to use their facility and conduct our TSC, they want counseling students to be able to come in and talk to our teens about something….I suggested working in collaboration with the graduate students on specific mental health tips for our teens and youth.  This could be a great M.S. or PhD project or an addition to their research.  This is a great way for everyone to benefit and an opportunity to co-create useful tips to share at the beginning of our TSC and share via a handout and social media.”


Thank you Suraida for your health & wellness focused focused efforts. We look forward to sharing future updates with the Network.

Asset Map Project Update

Help us visualize our network! You're invited to appear on our interactive map. Opt-in to request your survey. Contact louis@scieds.com to learn more about this effort.
Join the map!

OurEcho Challenge

EarthEcho International is excited to announce that the second year of the OurEcho Challenge, a STEM biodiversity competition for middle school students, is underway! We are thrilled to engage U.S. students with this unique opportunity to place $8,000 into the hands of young change-makers. 
 
The OurEcho Challenge is a STEM competition that empowers U.S. middle school students (grades 5 - 9; ages 10-15) to take a closer look at biodiversity in their communities. Students will first identify threats to local ecosystems and then propose solutions to help preserve, protect, or repair those natural resources.
 
10 finalist teams will join EarthEcho International on June 10-11, 2021 to virtually present their ideas to restore and protect local biodiversity. The top three teams will be awarded grants to turn their projects into a reality.
 
Visit www.ourechochallenge.org to learn more and to submit your students' ideas to change the world!   

Café Calendar

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
To submit an upcoming virtual café on the Virtual Café Calendar, please send Louis an e-mail with your virtual café's title, date & time, description, registration details, and a .png flyer (if available).

E-mail Louis: (louis@scieds.com)

Featured Partner Events & News

Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Professional Development 

As posted in NISE Network News newsletter, NISE regularly hosts professional development workshops:
  • NISE offers a series of free, online professional development workshops. To view Online Workshop Recordings, please visit NISE Network's Workshop Recordings Archive
Virtual Classes & Conferences for Teens
 
  • Shared in YOUMedia Learning Labs' Network Newsletter, THE MIX at San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) & San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, is hosting FREE virtual programming for Teens. Visit SFPL's virtual teen programming page to sign up for an upcoming virtual learning course. 

Webinars

About Teen Science Café Network:

We are a nation-wide web of organizations that offer Teen Science Café programs, such as  libraries | museums | 4-H clubs | colleges | STEM education organizations |Boys & Girls Clubs | aquariums & zoos | after school clubs | and committed individuals.

We are also a  community of practice that provides the highest quality resources, guidance, and support to individuals and organizations that wish to implement a teen science café. All of our members are committed to help one another continually improve the Teen Science Café experiences and their impacts.

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