Local Area Students Take on the Role of Engineers
In Partnership with The Franklin Institute
Free STEM Enrichment Program Returns For Summer 2021
Science in the Summer™, a free summer STEM program that aims to inspire the next generation of
Youth at Bossier BLAST are playing the role of a scientist— an environmental
engineer—to explore basic concepts of engineering and solve a real-world problem.
Below is the scenario given:
You work for a city government, making sure public spaces like parks and playgrounds
are safe for people to use. The city wants to build a new playground on a hillside, but
they are worried that when heavy rainstorms come, rainwater will run down the hill and
flood the park. Your job is to design a stormwater system that will keep rainwater
from the top of the hill away from the rest of the park.
Bossier BLAST is a summer camp led by Bossier Parish Schools, under the McKinney-Vento Act
for homeless, migrant, and foster children. Children or youth (including runaway and
abandoned youth) and their families who are living in a shelter, motel, vehicle, campground, on
the street, in substandard housing, doubled up with relatives of friends due to lack of housing
are considered to be homeless and are qualified to receive services.
Ms. Katherine Salvail, Sci-Port educator and Eden Gardens teacher, is leading the group.
scientists and engineers by providing opportunities for children to embody science careers, think scientifically, practice authentic science techniques, and have fun, returns this summer as an in-person workshop with a new theme: Be an Engineer!
This all-new curriculum invites children to play the role of engineers and tackle challenges in electrical,
biomedical, environmental, and structural engineering through at-home experiments, videos, and live
virtual events. Students are exploring the engineering design process as they solve real-worldproblems—including managing a playground’s stormwater runoff and designing a sturdy lightweight pedestrian bridge.
Provided by GSK in partnership with Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute and administered through Sci-Port Discovery Center since 2016, this fun, 100% free STEM enrichment program helps prevent the summer slide and works to keep students engaged with learning through fun, hands-on activities that will help ignite a lifelong passion for science. This year, the program is expected to reach more than 28,000 students at 32 informal science organizations across the country*.
“Scientists are finding solutions to problems today that we never thought we would face, so it’s even more important than ever to foster students’ interest in science early on so they can see themselves on that trajectory,” said Becki Lynch, Director, US Community Partnerships at GSK. “GSK Science in the Summer™ gives students the opportunity to embody the role of scientists—identify a problem, find solutions, and test the results, and that’s what science is all about, solving the unsolvable challenges.” GSK Science in the Summer™ was created in Philadelphia as part of GSK’s commitment to supporting STEM education. In 2021, the program celebrates its 35th anniversary, and each year it continues to grow and improve to remain fresh, engaging, and relevant for children across the country. This summer, nearly 800 children in the Shreveport-Bossier and East Texas area will join thousands more GSK Science
in the Summer™ students nationwide as they learn the importance of engineering through fun, hands-on, age-appropriate experiments with youth-serving community partners.
Science in the Summer™ is uniquely impactful in that it takes what students are learning in the
classroom and brings it to life, creating a cohesive learning experience that ties everything together and resonates,” said Dr. Darryl Williams, Chemical Engineer and Senior Vice President of Science and Education at The Franklin Institute. “Science is at the forefront now more than ever and ensuring that underserved and traditionally underrepresented youth across the country have opportunities to see themselves as engineers, chemists, or doctors will help create a more diverse STEM workforce.” The GSK Science in the Summer™ curriculum is developed by The Franklin Institute and is freely available at scienceinthesummer.fi.edu.
