Weekly Media Roundup  April 8, 2015

Thorp Discovery Lab Learns Drums (Ellensburg Daily Record, Washington)

Each Thursday, ten students from kindergarten to fifth grade learn to play half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes on an upside-down bucket. Afterwards, they move onto body drumming, which includes foot stomping, shoulder slapping, clapping and tap dancing. The students take classes four days a week through Discovery Lab at Thorp School, an afterschool program focused on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math). According to Discovery Lab founder Tosha Woods, the art component is crucial. “Studies show art is incredibly important and supports all of STEM,” she told the Ellensburg Daily Record.

A New Kitchen and Organic Garden to Teach Healthy Cooking (Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania)

Students in the twice-weekly afterschool cooking class at Philadelphia Montessori Charter School recently learned to prepare baked chicken wings with potatoes, carrots and parsnips as an alternative to less-healthy fast food. They trimmed and separated the wings, washed and sliced the potatoes and prepared a marinade. Most of the students signed up for the class to learn to eat healthier or help around the kitchen at home. “I want to express myself through cooking and have people enjoy what I cook,” 11-year-old Beinushi Jean-Pierre told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Over the next few months, the school is building an upgraded teaching kitchen to house the program and planting an organic garden for the students to tend.

Newton’s Attic Teaches Kids Engineering through Hands-on Fun and Games (Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky)

Bill Cloyd was inspired to become a mechanical engineer through his childhood of building go karts and mini bikes from spare parts. Now, the former high school physics teacher runs Newton’s Attic, a five-acre facility that offers summer, spring break and afterschool classes that allows kids to learn engineering, physics and technology by creating their own toys. Last week, kids ages six to 18 were using a giant catapult to hurl pumpkins, building and flying drones, creating robots and learning about gravitational force by riding an enormous bungee-powered roller coaster. “The whole idea is fun with physics,” Cloyd’s wife Dawn told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “Play is the ultimate learning tool.” 

Cabrillo High Launches Ivy League Mentorship Program (Long Beach Press-Telegram, California)

Cabrillo High School recently began an afterschool program called Reach to the Stars, which aims to generate student interest in attending Ivy League schools and other top universities. According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the program “organizes visits from industry leaders in science, technology, literature and the arts to the West Long Beach campus.” One recent guest was MIT alum John Underkoffler, who spoke to the students about how technology is used in films. Underkoffler has been a science and technology advisor on films such as “Minority Report,” “Hulk” and “Iron Man.”