“It’s like Dirty Jobs, but for STEM education,” said Evan Scott, Community Information Coordinator for Greene County Public Library.
The twelve-episode series features twelve professionals in STEM-related fields, including a welding engineer with Yaskawa Motoman in Miamisburg, the Director of Operations at the Greene County Library, an ornithologist at the Glen Helen Raptor Center, and both a water treatment engineer and water quality supervisor from Greene County Sanitary Engineering, among others.
WunderSTEM not only showcases what careers are available in Ohio, but also shows kids the types of jobs that are available in STEM fields all over the country, Cornell said.
“Not only do we just want to talk about these careers, but we want to showcase why they’re actually really cool,” he said. “That is where the kids really get excited, because a lot of those are unexpected career paths that kids may not understand or know about.”
Cornell, a Beavercreek resident, has been an educator in the Miami Valley for 20 years, and taught fifth grade science at Huber Heights for seven of those. Mister C also hosts DIY Science Time, which has been broadcast on PBS stations across the country. Cornell said that in his teaching experience, reaching children in pre-middle school grades is key to cultivating a love for science.
“Even though the program is designed (for grades) 3-8, 4th through 6th grade is so critical to inspire those kids, but more importantly to capture and maintain that interest, that love for learning and being inquisitive.”
Each episode is about 13 minutes long, and also includes curriculum and do-it-yourself crafts and curated book lists from Greene County Public Library, so that that learning doesn’t end when the episode does, Cornell said. The library’s makerspace in Xenia, Spark Place, is also adding programming and Take & Make Kits as well.
“Partnering with Mister C on WunderSTEM is a great opportunity,” said Cara Kouse, GCPL’s Makerspace Innovation Manager. “We love to see kids get excited about learning. This partnership encourages STEM exploration and demonstrates how STEM skills are applicable in real life.”
For example, WunderSTEM’s first episode includes instructions for how kids can make their own little robots, after watching the episode on welding engineering and robotics. The activities are good for parents to do with their kids, but are also useful for teachers to use as curriculum in their classrooms, Cornell said.
“We want kids to get their hands dirty and start playing and kind of get them excited about the career beyond the media content. That’s how we learn best; we’re playing and we’re not thinking about learning,” Cornell said.
Episode 1 is currently available at www.wunderstem.com, on Mister C’s YouTube channel, and on PBS LearningMedia. The rest of the series will be released this fall.
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