A portable science kit launched during the early pandemic is rapidly expanding distribution from a single Ohio county to London, Paris and Dubai.
NASA, the Office of Vice-President Kamala Harris, and government entities around the country are funding “Learning Lunchboxes”, first imagined by an Ohio science museum just two years ago as they were seeking to help their community. One of the latest funding surges came from OVP in September in support of World Space Week.
“The most important thing that we do is give people a hands-on experience,” said Frederic Bertley, president and CEO of Columbus’ Center of Science and Industry (COSI), which seeks to serve students from elementary to high school with interactive activities.
Given the museum shut down for pandemic-related safety reasons for much of 2020, officials came to realize that “we can’t have COSI come to people,” said Bertley. “Instead, we’re going to put COSI in a box.”
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The pandemic induced particular pressure on communities like Columbus, where nearly 20% of the population lives in poverty and roughly half self-identify as a minority (such as Black, Asian or Latino), according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics (opens in new tab) from 2020-21.
Falling employment, soaring health care costs, the growing health risks of working ‘front-line’ jobs and other complications created intersectional problems for the community. To tackle these, COSI and its partners took a creative approach.
“Our very first partnership was with food pantries, because the two major things that underserved populations had was food insecurity and an education crisis,” Bertley said, specifically pointing to families that had no internet access or ways to access remote learning during school shutdowns.
The program’s debut came when COSI delivered 500 Learning Lunchboxes a week to local food pantries to target “underserved” zip codes in the Columbus area. It was in light of that food-and-fuel approach that the program found its tagline: “Feeding hungry lives and hungry minds.”
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Each kit includes a package with a particular theme tied to science curriculum standards – including space (opens in new tab). (While the kit-and-lunch deal are rapidly expanding for…
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