SAGE
CSI - CORE Science Institute
CORE is the Council for Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement, an employee resource group at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
The CORE Science Institute (CSI) at SLAC is a non-profit entity founded in 2016 to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) enrichment programs among African American youth in the Bay Area. The main goal of this program is to grow SLAC’s community outreach endeavors, focus on increasing exposure to STEM fields amongst historically under-represented groups, and give the students involved a better understanding of what a career as a professional scientist/engineer entails.
History
Since 2016, the CORE Science Institute has hosted a weeklong summer science program at SLAC every year for underrepresented youth in the local community. This program involves lectures, lab sessions, interactive demonstrations, a site tour, and exposure to the lab's broad science program and professional life, culminating with a student presentation to the SLAC community. By giving students insight into life as a professional scientist or engineer and introducing them to fun and engaging STEM activities, the lab hopes to inspire them to pursue careers in STEM fields.
The first two years of the program focused on high school students from the Greene Scholars Program, while the next two years welcomed middle school students from the Greene Scholars Program and Ile Omode School. In 2020 and 2021, the summer science program went virtual in partnership with The Social Engineering Project and Science in the City, with participation from over 50 SLAC volunteers who guided 75 middle school students from across the country through various projects using science kits mailed to their homes.
Funding
CSI has historically been supported by a combination of funding from SLAC projects, fundraising events, and corporate donors in partnership with the groups that attend the summer program. Fundraising efforts are ongoing as the program expands to accommodate more students and keep activities up to date.
Contact Information
Contact Margaux Lopez (margaux@slac.stanford.edu) or Sean Kalsi (skalsi@slac.stanford.edu) with any questions about volunteering or participating in the program.Example Lab Activities
When the CORE Science Institute went virtual in the summer of 2020, part of the student lab kits included a build-it-yourself fan-powered car.
Building and programming circuits with Arduino boards.
Learning different phyics principles via basketball.
Learning about electricity and charges with a van de Graaf generator.
