Notes from the Field by Spencer Wright & Marlee Watson
For Marlee and I, STEM is in our blood. From the early days of elementary school in Helena, Montana, through our whole high school careers, we have been lovers of all things science – even being voted the pair “most likely to go to space” by our senior classmates.
I decided to engage in a summer of VISTA service this year after a close friend of mine let me know what a great opportunity to diversify my career AmeriCorps offered. The only previous knowledge I had of AmeriCorps was from NCCC volunteers who had given presentations to our school, I had no idea their service work extended into community volunteer programs.
When my friend, who was an AmeriCorps VISTA member in the past, let me know that I could serve with Exploration Works, where I used to take summer camps at as a kid, I was ecstatic and jumped right on the opportunity. As a VISTA member, I would be able to serve with an organization I love and gain new skills working with children and bringing STEM education into my local community.
Six weeks into my term of service I am loving every moment and wishing I could serve longer. From the first day, service has been a flurry but I would not ask for anything less! I love to be busy and there is always plenty of work to do at ExWorks. Much of the service I complete has been ensuring that summer camps run smoothly, especially in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. We have been extremely lucky to be able to open our doors to the children of the greater Helena area, but not without significant changes.
Fortunately, the extra steps we have taken to ensure the safety of our students and staff have brought our core group of staff much closer together. This summer I have also had the opportunity to write my own lesson plans and teach a handful of summer camps, which was a wonderful new experience for me. Even with the added uncertainty of Coronavirus, the last six weeks of my service term have been full of new experiences.
As I continue my education, I will be looking back on the fond memories I am making as a VISTA this summer and searching for more VISTA opportunities in the future.
-Spencer Wright
Spencer and I have been curious for as long as I can remember. Even as young students in our Montessori classroom, we eagerly explored each of our scientific interests in any way we could get our hands on. As our love for STEM persisted through our senior year, summer VISTA service at Exploration Works has become a valuable experience on the road to a career in STEM.
I decided to enter service because of my deep love for science and experience with informal STEM education. Even as a kid, I always hoped for the opportunity to teach at Exploration Works, so when I learned about the available VISTA positions I jumped at the offer. Walking into my first day, I was unsure of what my service would entail, but I grew increasingly excited with the start of such a valuable learning experience.
Serving with an interactive STEM organization during a pandemic has been an unusual challenge. As the world has become unusually volatile, I feel as though my time in service has already improved my ability to work in the face of humanity’s entropy. With some things changing on a day-to- day basis, I’ve had to learn how to remain simultaneously prepared and agile enough to face whatever may change throughout the day. I feel fortunate to have been able to complete a greater portion of my service with my students and the staff of Exploration Works. The changes we’ve made due to Coronavirus have transformed our educational setting in ways never seen before. This unfamiliar disarray has been hard to adjust to, but working with such a varied staff has been invaluable in developing lesson plans, executing my ideas, and learning how to improve my teaching/learning practices. The things I’ve learned during my service will remain with me for many years, and I hope it will prove to be a valuable experience on my path to a career in STEM.
-Marlee Watson