This National Engineers Week, February 20th to the 26th, take a moment to celebrate all of the engineers and future engineers in your life!

At Salemwood School in Malden, Massachusetts, yesterday, Ms. Sarah Augustyniak’s first grade class was excited to learn how Mariana Becomes a Butterfly! Thanks to the generosity of National Grid and support from the Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation, thousands of students in Malden now have access to EiE^® Try It! Kits and storybooks. These resources provide hands-on science and engineering experience to encourage STEM learning outside of the classroom.

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan declared February 11th as National Inventors’ Day, with the date chosen in honor of the birthday of Thomas Alva Edison. The United Nations deemed the same date the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2015 in recognition of the contributions of women to the field. Today, we’re proud to have February 11th as a celebration of STEM excellence from all inventors all over the world. 

With National Grid’s support, we’ve partnered with charities, outreach groups and school districts to provide engaging, hands-on STEM learning kits to children across the metro region. With their help, we’re thrilled to bring our at-home engineering activities to young learners and their families across Massachusetts, including a number of students in grades K-6 who go to school at Columbus Park Elementary School in Worcester. 

Last month, Museum of Science, Boston & EiE’s Research & Evaluation Manager Chris San Antonio-Tunis, was part of an informational webinar: Inspiring Young Minds Through Out-of-School STEM. Gemma Lenowitz of Overdeck Family Foundation led our expert educator, as well as Nav Deol-Johnson of Imagine Science, Britt Magneson of National Inventors Hall of Fame® and Nick Monzi of Learn Fresh as they discussed why out-of-school STEM programs are so critical for both academic and social emotional learning