Our 21st CCLC Site Coordinator, Matt, reports what he learned on his trip to the 21st CCLC 2024 Summer Symposium.
This past August, I attended the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Centers 2024 Summer Symposium. The symposium consisted of two full days of speakers, workshop sessions, and curriculum exhibitions from 21st CCLC programs across the United States.
The introductory speaker on the first day of the symposium was Captain Barrington Irving, the founder of Flying Classroom. He is the previous holder of the record for youngest person to pilot a plane solo around the world. His address included an inspirational story of how his teacher motivated him to follow his own path. He turned down a full-tuition football scholarship to Florida University and instead pursued a career in aviation. What sparked his love of aviation was meeting a successful Black man by coincidence. This man happened to be a wildly successful pilot, Captain Gary Robinson.
Making Connections
I had the opportunity to network with Captain Irving at the Flying Classroom small session. We discussed how to motivate youth who may not have high hopes for their own future. Through that conversation, I was reassured that our program was offering a key difference in our students’ lives. I also learned that a critical part of our students’ seeing a future for themselves is to see successful people who resemble themselves. As a result, I am motivated to push for field trips to successful Black-owned businesses and organizations. Additionally, I have a contact at the National Business Aviation Association through Captain Irving’s willingness to connect.
Curriculum Inspiration and Fostering Partnerships
Other highlights of the symposium include the highly engaging sessions on STEM and STEAM education. In the Musical Codes and Cosmic Adventures session led by PCS Edventures, I was inspired by the use of multimodal educational tools that engaged students through both arts and science activities. For example, the Sphero Indi was an incredibly fun and educational tool that not only taught students about object-oriented programming, but music theory as well – all wrapped in a charming robot that would follow your commands while playing a song you compose. I would love to introduce such high-quality learning materials to the 21st CCLC Program at Lana to diversify the types of tools we utilize in our program.
Additionally, I learned of opportunities to partner with large-scale organizations such as NASA through the Bridging the Gap Between NASA Educator Resources and Classrooms of Tomorrow session. The session demonstrated curriculum that was highly student-focused and educational. For example, the presenters showed their graphic novel series that is catered to middle school-aged students and shows young women of color in STEM-focused roles. The presenters also detailed several ways to keep in touch and even partner with NASA for grant opportunities.
I am deeply inspired by what I learned at the 21st CCLC 2024 Symposium. I look forward to implementing the knowledge I’ve acquired into our programs at Lana.