The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Community School hosted the Third Annual Nantucket Science Festival on March 18, 2017 at the Cyrus Pierce Middle School. The event was made possible in part by a grant from our Nantucket Fund™. This fund is the Foundation’s unrestricted source to provide community grants to financially support and focus attention on the island’s most critical needs and initiatives. The steady crowd at this year’s festival demonstrates an immense interest in science education within our community. Over 375 island children and adults explored science through hands-on activities in robotics, renewable energy and electricity, magnetism, potential energy in engineering, space exploration, sensory crafts, and more.
Many organizations across the island also supported this year’s event including the Nantucket High School Tech Club, the Linda Loring Nature Foundation, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, ACK Smart, SmartPower, and the Exploration Station. All worked hard to create this important event for our island’s budding scientists.
“The Nantucket Science Festival provides a fun and engaging opportunity to encourage island children and teenagers’ interest in science. It inspires some to consider careers in science, and others to volunteer for the many science focused organizations on the island. We look to young people to be the innovators that will solve today’s and tomorrow’s problems. It was wonderful to see so many of Nantucket’s young problem solvers talking, working, and playing with island scientists at the Third Annual Science Festival. This is truly an inspirational event,” said MMA Executive Director, David Gagnon. Kim Botelho, MMA’s Director of Education was excited to learn that SmartPower was able to enroll forty families in their home energy assessment program. “Not only does this event provide out-of-school-time opportunities in science, it will actually result in saving energy for Nantucket too!”
Thank you to the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Community School for using their grant dollars to make science fun for Nantucket families!