This blog post was guest written by our partners from the American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association’s annual Advancing Sciences event brings high school students out of
the classroom and into an environment where they can experience hands-on learning with leading
science, med-tech, and engineering professionals from across Minnesota. The day consists of small
group breakouts and speed mentoring sessions followed by a grant competition showcasing the
students’ latest STEAM projects to earn funding for their schools’ STEAM curriculum.
When we realized we couldn’t be together in person for our planned Advancing Sciences event on April 14, we quickly decided that we still wanted to provide science-focused resources for the 13 schools planning to attend. That’s when our “Celebration of Science” was born.
At a time of distance learning for students, we wanted to offer a variety of on-demand and motivational
resources that teachers could easily build into their curriculums. We launched our website on our
originally scheduled date and encouraged each participating school to also share their students’ STEAM projects on social media with #AdvancingSciences.
Our resources included:
- Short videos on college, internships, and business tips recorded by our Executive Leadership
Team; - Keynote speech from the Chief Science Advocate at 3M, along with a personal letter to the
students; - Informational resources on reducing and preventing teen vaping;
- Updates on the scientific advancements of the American Heart Association, along with our
response to the current COVID-19 pandemic; and more.
On the day we launched our Celebration of Science, we had over 100 visits to our website. All resources remain available for students and teachers. Although we are thrilled to provide STEAM enrichment resources to students virtually, we are still working to reschedule our in-person Advancing Sciences event for the fall. We remain committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists and innovators. Their ingenuity will be needed now more than ever.
If you know a school that would like to be involved in a future Advancing Sciences event, please contact the American Heart Association. You can also join our celebration of science @HeartAssocMN with #AdvancingSciences.