BY MICHAEL MILLER
In November, members of SANDSWA paid a visit to Ocean Discovery Institute in City Heights. We had an opportunity to witness the institute in action and also offer our volunteer services to help the institute thrive. In case you’re not familiar with the institute, what it offers, and how it helps kids in City Heights achieve careers in STEM fields and go on to college, we’d like to share some background and insights about the institute that they’ve shared with us.
Today, many young people lack opportunities to succeed. One opportunity that’s glaringly absent is access to rigorous science education. Because of this, kids who grow up in underserved communities don’t believe that becoming a scientist is a realistic career path for them.
Ocean Discovery Institute has created a solution: By providing continuous science opportunities, paired with mentoring and the tools to overcome challenges, young people have been unlocking their potential for more than several decades since the institute was first founded.
Today, Ocean Discovery reaches 6,000 students a year in San Diego. Programs are provided at no cost to students. The students who spend mostly after-school hours at the facility come to believe that a scientist is someone they can be. They enter the fields of biotech, engineering, environmental consulting, fisheries, marine biology, education, and public policy, and are committed to making a difference.
Ocean Discovery’s model targets one community or “school-shed” at a time. By beginning in City Heights, a San Diego neighborhood that’s among the most diverse in the nation, they tested this approach. The results have been unprecedented, earning the 2010 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.
Tuition-free programs provide the sunlight—the energy that makes growth over time possible. And a diverse network of donors, investors, and volunteers act as clouds, providing resources needed for kids to grow. For seed-to-tree growth to occur, this ecosystem acts in harmony in a single community, which, in this case, encompasses the elementary and middle schools that feed into Hoover High School in City Heights.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ocean Discovery Institute or perhaps would like to volunteer, just visit their website at Ocean Discovery Institute – Young Lives Transformed Through Science.
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