Saturday Academy, a K-12 youth program at Kansas City Kansas Community College, kicked off its 22nd year of programing on Oct 29 with funding support from the ARISE program, a major Kansas NSF EPSCoR initiative.
More than 200+ Kansas City, Kansas, students are expected to participate in the academy, which meets roughly twice a month for the rest of this school year.
Dr. Mary Patterson, one of the core teachers for the academy who is leading the data science module on behalf of ARISE, was excited to meet with the participants in-person again, after having to go online last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the first meeting, Dr. Patterson said, “Students wrote letters to themselves about what they want to learn and achieve in Academy this year. Half the day was spent introducing the four modules and the other half of the day was spent in Technology with computers.”
Participants will spend the coming months learning about various science, technology, engineeering, and math (STEM) concepts including new data science activities, while also exploring a variety of STEM career opportunities.
What is Kansas NSF EPSCoR?
The National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) ensures every citizen has access to STEM experiences by increasing research capacity in traditionally underfunded regions of the country—like Kansas. By supporting diversity and equity in STEM, these investments nurture a diverse and talented STEM workforce for our state.
