McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Joins the National Initiative “Youth Inspired Challenge”

CONCORD, NH – The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is the first New Hampshire institution to join the Association of Science-Technology Centers’ “Youth Inspired Challenge”. This major new initiative is designed to expand the impact of science centers and museums by assisting the nation’s youth to become innovative and creative thinkers.
Inspired by President Barack Obama’s goal of strengthening the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge of America’s students, the Challenge – extended to more than 300 science centers in all 50 states – sets a three-year goal to engage thousands of youth, ages 10-19, in 2 million hours of science enrichment.

”We are delighted to accept this challenge,” states Discovery Center Executive Director Jeanne Gerulskis. “A young person’s experience at a science center can spark a lifelong interest in STEM. With our summer camps in aviation, rocketry and space science, our exhibits and planetarium shows, school field trips and annual Aerospacefest, we aim to engage young people’s natural curiosity and desire to explore with adventurous educational experiences. Joining in the Youth Inspired Challenge allows us to join a national community of STEM educators, bringing new knowledge, resources and ideas to our efforts in the Granite State.”

The Discovery Center is committed to doing its part as a member of ASTC to meet the President’s challenge of growing STEM proficiency with America’s youth. The Discovery Center offers valuable science education outside the classroom. Building on the Discovery Center’s programs, the goals of the challenge include increasing the STEM literacy of New Hampshire students and expanding opportunities for STEM engagement of underrepresented groups, and increase STEM achievement over the next decade. Memberships to the Discovery Center also open the door for members to other ASTC institutions world-wide with free or reduced admission via the ASTC’s member reciprocal program.

The Association of Science-Technology Centers Incorporated is a nonprofit organization of science centers and museums dedicated to furthering public engagement with science among increasingly diverse audiences. Science centers are sites for informal learning, and are places to discover, explore, and test ideas about STEM. ASTC has nearly 600 members, including 444 operating or developing science centers and museums in 44 countries, who engage over 80 million people annually in intriguing educational science activities and explorations of scientific phenomena.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center features 21st century interactive exhibits on aviation, astronomy, Earth and space sciences, a state-of-the-art planetarium and a variety of science, technology, engineering and math programs, including Aerospacefest 2011 on April 29-30. The engaging, robust educational programs are geared towards families, teens, seniors, students, community groups, and lifelong learners. For more information, visit www.starhop.com.

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