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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
June 8, 2015 Joseph Rendeiro
(202) 776-1566
jrendeiro@nclr.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.—More than 300 students and their parents from throughout the Washington, D.C., area convened at the National Museum of Natural History on Sunday to celebrate a successful first year of the Children Investigating Science with Parents and Afterschool (CHISPA) program. Funded by the National Science Foundation, CHISPA was developed through a collaboration with NCLR (National Council of La Raza), ASPIRA Association and a network of 11 science museums located in cities with growing Latino populations. The four-year project aims to encourage science exploration among Latino students after school, increase parental engagement in science education, and connect families with local science resources and museums.
“We were thrilled to celebrate a successful year of implementation of this program with our final CHISPA Family Museum Day here in Washington, D.C.,” said Peggy McLeod, Deputy Vice President of Education and Workforce Development at NCLR. “What we find is that when we actively engage Latino students and parents in these family science days, they are left wanting to come back and learn even more. This is a truly unique program that includes the essential element of parental engagement, which helps to ensure that every member of the family is actively learning and participating.”
Nineteen NCLR Affiliates in six states participate in CHISPA, which has reached more than 800 students to date. The program was based on the Afterschool Program Exploring Science (APEX) model, developed by the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, which includes more than 30 lessons that offer opportunities for indoor and outdoor investigations to engage children in grades K–5 throughout the school year. The curriculum tackles concepts such as processes that shape the Earth, environmental science, forces of motion and space science. Through NCLR’s Padres Comprometidos con CHISPA program, parents are given the opportunity to learn more about the American education system and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields of learning.
“Careers in STEM are likely to be in high demand as we look toward the future of the American workforce,” added McLeod. “Encouraging young students to explore museums, ask questions and search for solutions will ensure that they develop a thirst for knowledge and an appetite for exploration. Hopefully they will continue to embrace science throughout their schooling and into their professional lives. We are excited to continue CHISPA over the next three years and.”
For more information on STEM education at NCLR, please contact Juliana Ospina Cano at jospina@nclr.org.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
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