The "Mentored Youth Building Employable Skills in Technology (MyBEST)" project, a collaboration of the Youth Science Center (YSC) and Learning Technology Center (LTC) at the Science Museum of Minnesota, is a three-year, youth-based proposal that seeks to engage 200 inner-city youngsters in learning experiences involving information and design technologies. The goal of the project is to develop participants' IT fluency coupled with work- and academic-related skills. The program will serve students in grades 7 through 12 with special emphasis on three underrepresented groups: girls, youngsters of color, and the economically disadvantaged. Project participants will receive 130 contact hours and 70% will receive at least 160 hours. Each project year, including summers, students participate in three seasons consisting of five two-week cycles. Project activities will center on an annual technology theme: design, engineering and invention; social and environmental systems; and networks and communication. The activities that constitute project seasons include guest presenter workshops; open labs facilitated by guest presenters, mentors and adult staff; presentations of student projects; career workshops and field trips. The project cycles feature programming (e.g., Logo computer language; Cricketalk), engineering and multi-media production (e.g., digital video; non-linear editing software). Each cycle will interface with an existing museum-related program (e.g., the NSF-funded traveling Cyborg exhibit). Mentors will work alongside participants in all technology-based activities. These mentors will be recruited from university, business, community partners and participant families. Leadership development is addressed through teamwork and in the form of internships and externships. Participants obtain work experience related to technology in the internship and externship component. The "MyBEST" project will serve as a prototype for the Museum to test the introduction of technology as central to the design and learning outcomes of its youth-based programs. An advisory board reflecting expertise in youth development, technology and informal science education will guide the program's development and plans for sustainability. Core elements of the "MyBEST" program will be integrated into the Museum's youth-based projects sponsored by the YSC and LTC departments. The Museum has a strong record of integrating prototype initiatives into long-standing programs.
The long-term goal is to broaden our model program that currently targets African-American populations in the national capital area. The aim of the program is to: a) educate junior and senior high students and elementary school teachers directly; and b) provide opportunities for exploration of health-related sciences for the public at large (via an interactive website) so that topics in the biomedical sciences become "friendly and familiar" rather than the existing stereotype that science is erudite, obtuse, and incomprehensible. Specific objectives: (A) Design hands-on experiences in science laboratories and opportunities to interact with scientists in the setting of a sophisticated research institute; especially target under-represented minorities, students from inner city schools and other local schools where science opportunities may be limited. This will include junior and high school students, elementary school teachers, as well as interactions with Children's Museum and other similar organizations. (B) Set up interactive web-based informatics to include: i) a system where high school students could refine the question they are posing for science projects by discussing it with a professional scientist; ii) a general "ask-the-expert" site for science and health issues; iii) a reference site containing the detailed experimental protocols for student experiments; and iv) an interactive resource to aid teachers throughout the U.S. to establish contacts with scientists. The goal of this project is to extend the reach of current health science programs that are targeted to females, African-American junior and senior high school students, and elementary school teachers, located in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The project includes laboratory apprenticeships, student mentoring, and an interactive website to help students and teachers establish contact with scientists nationwide.