So You're a Kid -- What's possible?
We watch other people and wonder, how did they get where they are? How did they get to do what they're doing? What did they overcome? How can I do what I want? (And what if I don't know what I want?) I Was a Kid was created to help kids today expand their possibilities by tracing the paths of all kinds of people working in science in all kinds of ways. What can YOU do? Open doors and set out on the path to SCIENCE.
A message from Karen Romano Young, Founder of IWAK
I believe in the power of repeated messages.
Through my work, I’ve gotten two key messages over and over:
Science needs to open its doors.
Kids need to envision a path to those doors.
I’m a writer. I write books for kids, most about science. I create science comics, often taking field trips with scientists to gather material. That’s where scientists tell me that their field is too male and too white, that it needs more kinds of genius, more perspectives.
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My work takes me into schools, universities, libraries, zoom calls, Twitter chats, and webinars where I get the second key message: many young people don’t see themselves going into the sciences.
Those two messages create a gap I want to fill through I Was a Kid. Yes, in the popular parlance, today’s kids need mirrors — images of people like them; and windows — views into lives not often portrayed.
But they also need bridges and pathways to help them get from exactly where they are now to where they might be in the future: engaged in many aspects of science careers.
So who are the “kids” in I Was a Kid? People across the sciences who cross spectrums of background, career stage, and position in the science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) fields. They’re working to expand science’s point of view. Through comics, audio clips, photos, and text, I work with them to share their experiences and challenges along their paths.
Who are the kids who may follow these paths? Primarily middle schoolers and high schoolers, but also undergraduates and middle graders, whose science identities could easily wilt instead of bloom. Through I Was a Kid’s website, printouts and posters, they’ll find stories to inspire them and give them tools for moving forward.
I Was A Kid's PARTNERS
Alvin Science Verification Expedition
How Can Your Contribution Help?
Most of all, it allows us to get the materials into the hands of kids, their teachers, and their parents, at no cost to them.
It supports the work involved in creating I Was a Kid: research, writing, and artwork.
It supports the website and printing and postage costs.
And it helps with the cost of getting the word out to the education and science communities.