Hello Julia!  Thanks so much for your note. We communicate in a number of ways to our parents and the wider community: a) we work with the parent coordinators from our twenty schools in our network to get the word out about our Science Ambassadors afterschool program and our Parent University program;  b) we have tabletop activities in schools during PTA meetings and Parent-Teacher conferences; c) we have a good relationship with our local television station to talk about our program. Here is one example: https://buff.ly/2vQjhdr (all in Spanish) and here is another example with a different television station in English:  https://buff.ly/2WKicQn

Hope this helps!

Andrés

Hello Sara! Thanks for your note. To your point, yes, there are lots of things going on. One of the things that we've learned as a result of this project is the way which communicate with our audience.  We're a hyperlocal project focusing on our zip code and we are lucky that we get lots of feedback from our stakeholders. We are trying the following: 1) simplify the names of our programs; 2) repeat as often as possible what our NYSCI Neighbors program is and the difference between Science Ambassadors after school and Parent Ambassadors program; 3) while we have a good relationship with parent coordinators in schools, we're trying to reach out to more science and math teachers who are less familiar with our programs.  For example, we're in the midst of co-designing activities with teachers that would add value to their classroom (assigning homework where they can use museum); 4) we're starting a Facebook page for parents since there is a demand to learn what is being offered specifically for them

Most importantly, we're still learning and willing to change our program as we listen to our community's needs!

Hope this helps.

Andrés 

Hello Christine,

What a great question. Guidance for others that want to do this: 1) talk to members of your community before you start. Taking a pulse of what's important can help with program design; 2) Hire locally. we are in a community with many first-generation immigrant families.  Building trust with the community is essential. We've been fortunate in that we've been able to find staff that live in the community and are bi-lingual; 3) community work takes time.  Be patient!

Some surprises:1) getting homework done before children get home s a big deal! 2) working with outside partners is valuable. For example, we're working with the Hispanic Federation to offer ancillary programs for parents.

Henríquez, A. (2018). NYSCI Neighbors: Creating locally driven authentic opportunities for immigrant parents in a STEM Ecosystem. In M. Caspe, T. A. Woods, & J. Kennedy, (Eds.), Promising practices for engaging families in STEM learning. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Andrés

Hello Kim!  We have a terrific staff.  Most importantly, my colleagues all have come to NYSCI through our Science Career Ladder program (https://buff.ly/2JHDAlB) so they know the exhibits and can do demonstrations in both English and Spanish.  In addition, our NYSCI Neighbor program works with every department in the museum, so we work closely with our educational services as well as our research and exhibits team. Our education team does many of our other programs that are drop off programs (computer programming, Google Academy, Maker Academy etc.).

Andrés

Wow! What a great program for staff! Thank you so much for sharing.

Thank you!!

Hello Frank!

So nice to hear from you.  I know exactly what you mean.  We were just talking to some teachers the other day about the way in which their perceptions changed when seeing a student outside class.  This particular student was in our Maker Space and we were giving teachers a tour of the museum. The student was ecstatic and ran up and gave the teacher a hug.  He graciously introduced his mom to the teacher and he then led the teacher to his workspace and explained what he was making.  The teacher was shocked to see the student so excited and engaged.  He apparently never speaks in class and struggles with some of his classwork.  It was an opportunity for the teacher to see the student in a completely different context.  The teacher's perception of who this student was and what she should expect from him shifted in that small interaction.

Hope this note finds you well, Frank.

Andrés