Homewood Science Center

Results: Attendance at Homewood Science Center events and programs rose from 2,977 attendees in 2016 to 11,213 attendees in 2018, and we are on track for further growth. In 2019, Homewood Science Center’s elementary school engineering design field trip, “Roller Coasters: An Inventor’s Journey,” served 2,275 students from 27 schools in 14 school districts. This represented an increase of 40% over the number of students served by this program in 2018. Of students served by Homewood Science Center’s field trip program in 2019, 68% were racial minorities and 62% were from schools with low-income student populations. This represented a 19% increase in minority student participation and 11% increase in low-income student participation over 2018. Homewood Science Center’s Girls STEAM Ahead networking and mentoring roundtable event was attended by 91 students and 48 professionals in 2017, 122 students and 83 professionals in 2018, and 148 students and 109 professionals in 2019. This represents an increase of 63% in student attendance and 125% in mentor attendance over the course of the program’s first three years. Homewood Science Center recorded over 1,600 hours of volunteer service in 2018.

Target demographics: Homewood Science Center works with children, families, educators, business and industry leaders, nonprofits, and policymakers to develop critical thinkers, increase technical literacy, enable the next generation of innovators, and set talented students on the path to success.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 11,219 attendees and 215 organizations

Geographic areas served: Chicago's culturally and economically diverse Southland

Programs: Engineering design field trips for preschool and elementary students; PopUp SCIENCE, a summer program that promotes early learning and parents’ involvement in their children’s education, to help kids succeed in school; Girls STEAM Ahead, a mentoring program for students historically underserved and underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, art, and math education and careers; the Middle School Conservation Ecology internship, a project-based internship to improve 6th-8th grade students' knowledge of ecology and attitudes towards community service; and the Chicago Southland STEM Network, a platform for diverse stakeholders—including parents, educators, nonprofits, business and industry leaders, and policymakers—to celebrate and strengthen STEM education in the Chicago Southland and Northwest Indiana. Homewood Science Center also operates a makerspace; presents exhibits; holds movie screenings; teaches kids’ camps and classes; hosts elementary and high school robotics teams; leads internships; and offers programs for adults that spotlight local STEM talent.