I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this in, but I figured since its a "general discussion" forum, I'd put this in here (feel free to move it if this isn't where it belongs).
Over the weekend (3/17/18 to 3/19/18), the students from Lexington Middle School in Fort Myers, Florida had the chance to experience something pretty cool! They had the chance to learn something about wildlife conservation, marine science, motion, gravity, and the evolution of technology. The group of kids I chaperoned were in the evolution of technology and gravity classes. These classes are offered by Disney and are part of their Youth Education Series (Y.E.S.). It gave the kids an opportunity to listen and to discuss how some of the technology works in Disney's theme parks, as well as in their everyday lives.
On Saturday, 3/17/18 - We showed up in the afternoon and just hung out at Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. Then, we went to Epcot for the evening.
On Sunday, 3/18/18 - My group and my wife's group of 20 kids went to Epcot and met up with Chris, a Disney Y.E.S. facilitator, and he talked about how technology started, what government regulations goes into technology, how society deals with technology, and the where are we going in the future with technology? Built into his lessons, the kids had a chance to experience Test Track, Mission:SPACE, and Spaceship Earth. It was pretty cool to get on these rides before the parks opened. But, if the kids didn't want to ride any of the rides, they could skip the ride if they wanted to, but our kids went on all the rides. The chaperones went on Test Track and Spaceship Earth, but sat out on Mission:SPACE.
On Monday, 3/19/18 - A few groups headed over to Hollywood Studios to meet up with Sarah, another Disney Y.E.S. facilitator, and she talked about gravity, inertia, potential and kinetic energy, force, etc. The same thing as with Chris at Epcot where the kids were able to understand how the rides worked and take the ideas and concepts they learned and apply them in their lives. The kids had a chance to ride Tower of Terror and Rock & Roller Coaster. There were some kids who skipped Tower of Terror and Rock & Roller Coaster, but most of them hopped on and had a blast all before the parked opened! The chaperones, of course, sat out.
If anyone on this board is an educator (Elementary school to High School), you may want to look into this and build it into your curricula as part of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) class or club. A word to the wise, these Disney Y.E.S. classes are not cheap. They range anywhere between $80 to $150 per student and you need to have a minimum of 10 students to go. We showed up with a group of 70 kids (if anyone was at Hollywood Studios on Monday and saw a bunch of bright orange shirts running around - that was us). The kids had a great time....as an educator myself (I teach high school), it was great to experience the Disney Youth Education Series program myself and I may do something with this in the 2018-2019 school year or 2019-2020 school year. Also, you will need to factor in hotel stays and transportation - so if this is something you're looking to do, I'd start fundraising now or look into some S.T.E.M. grants that you can use to cover the cost (or off-set the cost) of this series.
Over the weekend (3/17/18 to 3/19/18), the students from Lexington Middle School in Fort Myers, Florida had the chance to experience something pretty cool! They had the chance to learn something about wildlife conservation, marine science, motion, gravity, and the evolution of technology. The group of kids I chaperoned were in the evolution of technology and gravity classes. These classes are offered by Disney and are part of their Youth Education Series (Y.E.S.). It gave the kids an opportunity to listen and to discuss how some of the technology works in Disney's theme parks, as well as in their everyday lives.
On Saturday, 3/17/18 - We showed up in the afternoon and just hung out at Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. Then, we went to Epcot for the evening.
On Sunday, 3/18/18 - My group and my wife's group of 20 kids went to Epcot and met up with Chris, a Disney Y.E.S. facilitator, and he talked about how technology started, what government regulations goes into technology, how society deals with technology, and the where are we going in the future with technology? Built into his lessons, the kids had a chance to experience Test Track, Mission:SPACE, and Spaceship Earth. It was pretty cool to get on these rides before the parks opened. But, if the kids didn't want to ride any of the rides, they could skip the ride if they wanted to, but our kids went on all the rides. The chaperones went on Test Track and Spaceship Earth, but sat out on Mission:SPACE.
On Monday, 3/19/18 - A few groups headed over to Hollywood Studios to meet up with Sarah, another Disney Y.E.S. facilitator, and she talked about gravity, inertia, potential and kinetic energy, force, etc. The same thing as with Chris at Epcot where the kids were able to understand how the rides worked and take the ideas and concepts they learned and apply them in their lives. The kids had a chance to ride Tower of Terror and Rock & Roller Coaster. There were some kids who skipped Tower of Terror and Rock & Roller Coaster, but most of them hopped on and had a blast all before the parked opened! The chaperones, of course, sat out.
If anyone on this board is an educator (Elementary school to High School), you may want to look into this and build it into your curricula as part of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) class or club. A word to the wise, these Disney Y.E.S. classes are not cheap. They range anywhere between $80 to $150 per student and you need to have a minimum of 10 students to go. We showed up with a group of 70 kids (if anyone was at Hollywood Studios on Monday and saw a bunch of bright orange shirts running around - that was us). The kids had a great time....as an educator myself (I teach high school), it was great to experience the Disney Youth Education Series program myself and I may do something with this in the 2018-2019 school year or 2019-2020 school year. Also, you will need to factor in hotel stays and transportation - so if this is something you're looking to do, I'd start fundraising now or look into some S.T.E.M. grants that you can use to cover the cost (or off-set the cost) of this series.
