Children registered for one of three courses depending on their age. Kindergarten and first grade attended Lions, Tigers, Bears: Oh My! — a course focused on exploring the animal kingdom. Grades two and three attended Matter Matters! — a course that asked what’s the state? Solid, liquid or gas? Grades four through six attended a Harry Potter-themed course called Muggle Magic, in which students learned about science and magic.

The three hour-long classes featured a variety of crafts and science experiments all centered around teaching youth STEM and giving NMU pre-service teachers, who led the courses, the chance to gain firsthand experience in their field, said program coordinator for the Glenn T. Seaborg Math and Science Center Renee Jewett.

“They plan the lessons, they plan the units, they pick everything, and then we provide them with the materials and the space to do so,” Jewett said. “It’s good for them to get their feet wet and jump right in. As a teacher myself, it’s really hard to learn time management and classroom management until you do it. For them to plan three hours worth of activities is completely new for them. They experience that today and they think, ‘oh OK, this took way longer than I thought or not nearly as long as I thought’ and they just get to manage classroom behavior, which again you can learn and practice all of undergrad up until you’re in your own classroom, but until you’re actually doing it you don’t really have that experience unless you’re maybe a parent already.”

College for Kids is a year-round program held twice each semester and over the summer as a four-week-long program, which is taught by local teachers. Jewett particularly enjoys the fall and winter Weekend College for Kids course because she gets to see Northern students take that next step in the field they are pursuing.

Fourth through sixth graders create wizard wands in the NMU College for Kids course Muggle Magic. NMU pre-service teachers chose the focus for their classes, developed their own lesson plans and led the courses Saturday morning at NMU's Seaborg Center.

“I walk in there and I think this student looks like they’ve been teaching for a couple years already,” Jewett said. “They’re just comfortable they went into the right field. It’s exciting for me to see them shine. They’re gonna be great teachers, and it doesn’t seem like some of them are brand new or have never done it before.”

The program allows teachers to dive into specific content areas and the children to explore their particular interests as well, such as muggle magic. Students also get to interact with students from different grade levels and other schools all while hopefully gaining an interest in the STEM fields, Jewett said.

“I think exposure to the topics now can lead to them being confident in the STEM fields in the future, maybe give them more of an interest, empower them to feel like they can do something to make a difference even though they’re very young now,” Jewett said. “Maybe they’ll want to be a chemist someday. Just to get them excited and interested in science now and math now can really change their mind later on. It’s a win-win all around. It’s a really great program. I love it.”

The next College for Kids will begin mid-June. Registration will open next week and fills up quickly. Visit nmu.edu/seaborg to register or call 906-227-2002.

Calaia Karr, 9, makes slime in a Matter Matters! course for Northern Michigan University's 2019 Winter Weekend College for Kids program, which is taught by NMU pre-service teachers.