New Pioneers is eager to continue our partnership with Our Commonwealth on the Rose Dodson STEM Program for 3rd and 4th grade Bardstown City students of color for the third year in a row!

Each month, students participate in rotations of hands-on experiments, crafts, games, and more with relevant community partners to increase their interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. This September, the theme was animals, and New Pioneers' rotation explored the backyard birds of Kentucky!

During this rotation, students were introduced to 6 local bird species and their calls. Then, we used this new knowledge to play a game of "Birdo," a style of bingo revolved around matching the call they hear to one of the bird species we explored!

After this exciting game, students participated in a group discussion about how we can support local birds with native plants. To wrap up, students were sent home with a coloring sheet of their favorite bird and a pack a native pollinator seeds to continue connecting with the wildlife right in their backyards!

This program offers of unique opportunity for New Pioneers to "plant the seeds" for a future generation of environmental stewards, building strong connections with the natural world and introducing different "green" careers at an early age. We thank Our Commonwealth for inviting us to participate again!

To view more photos from this program, click here or on the collage above.