BASP welcomes Einstein Project for a special visit

Last Wednesday, the Denmark Before and After School Program (BASP) welcomed some special visitors who stopped by to share their love of all things STEM with a fun activity for students to enjoy. That day, the Einstein Project from Green Bay set up shop in the BASP classroom with their "Einstein Sandbox" mobile program, providing a hands-on car construction activity for attendees to enjoy. The Denmark News stopped by and spoke with the visit’s organizers to learn more. 

For those who do not know, "STEM" refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In recent years, educators have undertaken a heightened focus on STEM and have sought ways to get young people more interested in the subject. The Einstein Project was established in Green Bay in 1990 to provide a way for educators and local industry leaders to team up and find ways for science to be "more engaging and impactful in the classroom". Over the last three decades, the Einstein Project has grown significantly and has known several homes. Since 2019, the program has been based out of the STEM Innovation Center on the UWGB campus.

The Einstein Project states, "We aim to make science education accessible and affordable." This is accomplished both by programs hosted at their headquarters in the STEM Innovation Center as well as through several community outreach initiatives like the Einstein Sandbox that visited the Denmark BASP last week. The sandbox had previously made an appearance in Denmark during last month's Denmark Community Summer Reading Program "Movie Under the Stars" event behind the elementary school.

When we stopped by the BASP classroom at Denmark Elementary School last Wednesday, students were already hard at work on their projects. The friendly team from the Einstein Project had brought all the elements needed for attendees to make their own miniature vehicles out of recycled materials including cardboard, bottle caps, dowels and more. Once their crafty cars were finished, the students could test them out and race their peers using a large ramp in the middle of the room.

Mobile Makerspace Program Coordinator Denise McFarlin told us the activity was aimed at helping the students learn basic engineering and design principles. Some of the lessons learned included how an axle works, how to account for friction and how to account for and utilize momentum. Once their base models were assembled, participants got to "bling them out" with a variety of decorative touches to add a "cool factor".

McFarlin told us the focus of this summer's programs is "design thinking", and these kinds of projects have participants "acting as engineers". She explains the Einstein Sandbox mobile program has been around for over five years and has "grown significantly" in the past three. McFarlin attributes this growth to their ability to "secure more donors who are interested in keeping kids learning STEM". The Einstein Project's visit to Denmark on Wednesday was funded by the United Way as part of an initiative aimed at providing STEM activities for youth and families.