On Saturday, April 9, the Rams supported Science of Sport's first annual Inglewood STEM Fest at Edward Vincent Jr. Park in partnership with the City of Inglewood. The free event introduced local students grades K-6 to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through sports.
"This inaugural event is designed to bring in Los Angeles-based sports organizations to provide an engaging day of STEM and sports to the Inglewood community," said Ashley Dean, Vice President of Programs and Development for Science of Sport.
Along with the Rams, community partners for the inaugural event included Angel City Football Club, Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Los Angeles Lakers, The Marvin Group, USTA SoCal, LAFC, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Chargers, LA Galaxy, Morgan Stanley, First Republic Bank and LINXS Constructors.
Participants were exposed to real-world applications of STEM that focused on kinesthetic learning, scientific methods and curriculum that align with California Math, Science and Physical Education standards. Activity stations provided STEM lessons centered around football, yoga, basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, softball, as well as track and field. The event also featured a STEM presentation by Science of Sport and a panel discussion with industry professionals, including Rams Manager of Data and Analytics Jake Temme.
"Seeing kids that are passionate about math… trying to put myself back in that age group, I wasn't that. I was on the sports side. I really loved the athletics piece," said Temme. "So, being able to talk about sports would've captured my interest… Seeing someone that has done it hopefully resonated with them and there were a lot of kids that really bought in. It's inspiring to see."
Science of Sport (SOS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to developing curriculum and programming that promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Its programs bring math and science to life through hands-on learning activities using sports examples and provide direct services to teachers and students. Its purpose is to provide youth with real-world applications of STEM. Since 2013, Science of Sport has reached over 6,000 teachers and nearly 520,000 students across the nation with its programming and curriculum.
"The estimated 3.5+ million STEM jobs that go unfilled due to a lack of exposure and opportunities only magnifies the importance of an already considerable shortage," said Daren Heaton, Executive Director, Science of Sport. "By exposing students to the applicability of STEM to their everyday lives, our hope is to inspire them to pursue careers in the STEM workforce, and what better way to do this than through the lens of sports."
To learn more about the Rams' community efforts, please visit www.therams.com/community.
