On Saturday, April 9, the Rams, in partnership with the City of Inglewood, sponsored Science of Sport’s first annual Inglewood STEM Fest at Edward Vincent Jr. Park. The free event introduced local students in grades K-6 to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) through sport.
“This inaugural event is designed to bring Los Angeles sports organizations together for an exciting day of STEM and sports for the Inglewood community,” said Ashley Dean, vice president of programs and development at Science of Sport.
In addition to the Rams, community partners at the inaugural event included Angel City Football Club, Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Los Angeles Lakers, Marvin Group, USTA SoCal, LAFC, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Chargers, LA Galaxy, Morgan Stanley and First Republic Bank and LINXS Constructors.
Participants were exposed to real-world STEM applications focused on kinesthetic learning, scientific methods, and curricula that conform to California math, science, and physical education standards. Activity stations offered STEM classes on soccer, yoga, basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, softball, and track and field. The event also included a STEM presentation from Science of Sport and a panel discussion with industry experts including Rams Manager of Data and Analytics Jake Temme.
“Seeing kids who are passionate about math… I was trying to put myself back into that age group, I wasn’t. I was on the athletic side. I really loved the athletics piece,” Temme said. “Well, being able to talk about sports would have piqued my interest… Seeing someone do it hopefully resonated with them and there were a lot of kids who really got into it. It’s inspiring to see.”
Science of Sport (SOS) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development of curricula and programs that advance 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 real-world applications of STEM to young people. Since 2013, Science of Sport’s program and curriculum has reached over 6,000 teachers and nearly 520,000 students across the country.
“The estimated 3.5+ million STEM jobs that remain unfilled due to a lack of exposure and opportunity only reinforces the importance of an already significant shortage,” said Daren Heaton, Executive Director, Science of Sport. “By introducing students to the applicability of STEM to their daily lives, we hope to inspire them to pursue careers in the STEM workforce, and what better way to do that than through the lens of esports.”
To learn more about the Rams’ community efforts, please visit www.therams.com/community.
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