Teens can learn about STEM careers at free event series at Cradle of Aviation Museum
The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Teens interested in a potential career in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math can learn more about those opportunities during a new, free information series starting Jan. 21 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City.
Long Island STEM Hub Career Conversations kicks off Jan. 21 with a focus on information technology and technology in general; the remaining six monthly sessions will each address a different career path, including manufacturing, energy, aviation, life and environmental science, engineering or health care. Each session will feature industry professionals and representatives from Long Island colleges and universities that offer majors in related areas.
“We’re not getting people relocating from Kansas to Long Island on a regular basis because of the cost of living,” said Andrew Parton, president of the Cradle of Aviation. “The hope is that this opens up some eyes, and with the kids a light bulb goes off. You can go to school here on Long Island, and you can get a good job here on Long Island in these industries.”
The sessions will focus on more than just the obvious positions in each field. For instance, a student may be squeamish about blood and not want to become a doctor or nurse, but there are many other jobs in the health care field to explore, he said. The sessions will help students know what classes they should focus on in high school to prepare them for a STEM major in college, he said.
LONG ISLAND STEM HUB CAREER CONVERSATIONS
WHEN | WHERE: Cradle of Aviation Museum; 9 to 11:30 a.m. on select Saturdays from January through June; first session Saturday, Jan. 21
ADMISSION: Free; Registration is required
INFO: Charles Lindbergh Blvd. Garden City; 572-4111, listemhub.org or cradleofaviation.org
The New York Institute of Technology of Old Westbury is spearheading the first session, said Michael Nizich, director of The Entrepreneurship & Technology Innovation Center for NYIT and a faculty member in the school’s computer science department. Speakers will include Nizich as well as representatives working for the Department of Defense, for Boeing in its development of autonomous flying vehicles, and for the Evercore Group in its cybersecurity efforts, Nizich said.
Students in eighth grade through high school can attend any or all of sessions, which are scheduled for 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays in the museum’s theater on Charles Lindbergh Blvd.; the museum prefers students attend with a parent or guardian, Parton said. Advance registration is required at either listemhub.org or cradleofaviation.org. LI STEM Hub is a partnership of the Cradle of Aviation, Brookhaven National Lab and Northwell Health, Parton said. If the Career Conversations program is successful, it will continue annually, he said.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
