TED and TEDx are synonymous with creative, stimulating “ideas worth spreading”. So we were thrilled when our director and partners at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago were selected to take part.

In Relationships & Belonging in Science (Education), Science Club founder and center Director (Mike Kennedy) and VP of Youth Development at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago (Milo Hinojosa) share the history and development of Science Club.

This is for two reasons.

First, to celebrate all the people – the partners, teachers, youth development staff, scientists and youth – who’ve made this program what it is. This year, Science Club will reach its 10th anniversary at the Pedersen McCormick Club. In that time hundreds of youth, students, researchers and volunteers have become part of this community. And it was crucial to our pitch that the talk included two speakers (instead of the usual solo act) to reflect this approach.

Second, we wanted to share how Science Club came to be what it is – a partnership-driven, relationship-driven approach to STEM education – in the hopes of inspiring other communities developing programs and ecosystems of learning.  

In the talk, Mike and Milo share the Science Club model and its very beginnings – including the seminal partnership between Northwestern, CPS teachers, and BGCC which started it all — as well as some of the program impacts and data from the first ten years.

Relationships & Belonging in Science (Education) is a fifteen-minute joint TED talk. Watch the full video here.

The  presentation was given in April 2018 as part of TEDxNorthwestern.