“What if we add more of this reagent?”
“Can we try launching the rocket from up here?”
“What does this look like under the microscope?”
These questions and more have been asked and tested by middle school students participating in Science Saturday at Kenyon College, one of Triple C’s campus partners.
Science Saturday is a free program offered since 2011 to middle schoolers in rural central Ohio to provide the opportunity to explore, play, and experiment in the labs and classrooms at Kenyon College in Knox County.
This year, the program is co-directed by Associate Professor of Chemistry Kerry Rouhier and Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Ruth Heindel along with the 2024-2025 student directors Zoe Malouf ‘25, Delaney Klace ‘25, and Sam Connors ‘26.
Building a Science Outreach Program
Due to a variety of resource constraints, science instruction in public middle schools, grades 6 through 8, is often formulaic and rarely interactive. To address this, Professor of Physics Tom Giblin started an outreach program in 2011 at Kenyon College aimed at showing area middle schoolers that science is fun, hands-on, and engaging.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Tom developed two programs: GSS (Girls Science Saturday) and LADS (Learning and Doing Science for boys), which were each offered twice a year. The day-long events introduced participants to engaging thematic activities, provided lunch in the college dining hall, and a Q&A with a guest scientist.
Over the years, the program changed names and format to better serve the needs of area participants: ATHENAS (Aiming To Heighten her Experience Near and Around Science for girls) and BLAST (Boys Learning About Science Together), which were co-directed by Associate Professors of Physics Maddie Wade and Les Wade and Associate Professor of Chemistry Kerry Rouhier; then BLAST off with ATHENAS, and finally Science Saturday, which included both all-gender programs.
For the last five years, Science Saturday occurred nearly each fall and spring and continued the tradition of offering participants many hands-on activities centered around themes such as Eat it Up, Sounds of Science, and Lights, lasers, and ‘lectricity along with lunch at the college’s dining hall (also a participant favorite!).
Funding for the program shifted from the early days when it was funded entirely by the National Science Foundation to more recent years when it was funded by the Knox County Foundation and then Kenyon College through a donor partnership and their Office of Community Partnerships.
The actual running of the program is made possible by three paid student directors who develop program ideas and activities and lead more than three hours of training for 15-20 of their peers who serve as volunteer staff at each Science Saturday event. Kenyon student volunteers are primarily science majors and lead the actual program activities.
Their training prepares them not only to carry out a variety of experiments but also to interact and engage with the participants (e.g. how to include a reluctant participant). They are joined by four high school ambassadors, who participated in the program as middle schoolers.
Over the years, this program has hosted ~1500 area middle school students from rural central Ohio, representing at least seven different school districts in addition to a variety of home-school programs. Since 2011, there have been six faculty co-directors, more than 20 paid student co-directors, approximately 300 Kenyon student volunteers, and at least 20 high school ambassadors.
Meeting a need
Each Science Saturday event gave participants the opportunity to work with materials and equipment not typically available to them, as well as the time and space to ask and test many questions without being evaluated. Some examples of recent activities include building various types of electrical circuits, extracting DNA from plant tissues, and connecting art to science through mathematical patterns. The participants also get the opportunity to interact with the high school and college students around a shared interest in science. Each Science Saturday has a different theme and set of activities, providing middle schoolers the opportunity to participate multiple times.
This program has had direct and far-reaching impacts. Participants interact with college students who are doing a variety of things such as restoring local ecosystems and developing ways to reduce the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Returning participants often ask for staff members by name, having formed connections through shared interest in science. Kenyon students learn how to run a community-based program and get to connect with others (peers, participants, and ambassadors) in a space that prioritizes fun and exploration. Kenyon faculty and staff are able to connect with community partners, and the community has an opportunity to learn about Kenyon and its available resources.
In summary, Science Saturday provides the opportunity for hands-on, experiential learning for everyone involved, while simultaneously building bridges between Kenyon College and the Knox County community.
