UNH Extension interim director Amy Loader and UNH President Elizabeth Chilton stand alongside Nicole Forsyth, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley, and Jaclyn Cohn, education and engagement manager at the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley, while visiting with youth participants in the club's Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Program Room.
UNH President Elizabeth Chilton was in Milford last week, visiting the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Program Room. Chilton was joined by Amy Loader, interim director of UNH Extension.
The Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley’s leadership and staff welcomed the group and discussed the importance of how play-based learning through STEAM programming sparks curiosity and creates lifelong learners, enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving and creativity. They further noted these traits are important for success in most workplaces, especially in our complex, ever-changing society. STEAM programming is a component of their ‘Closing the Academic Gap’ campaign aimed at reducing the delay in academic learning among the youth they serve at the site.
UNH leadership had the opportunity to visit the STEAM Program Room’s offerings and meet with the program’s youth participants.
UNH Extension’s 4-H programming has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley’s STEAM Club and has provided STEAM activities during the summer months.
This summer, the site’s outdoor education programming will be enhanced with the addition of one UNH student intern serving in a full-time program role. The award to the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley is made possible through the Small Family Community Fellowship program. The John Small Gift Fund underwrites this program, supporting summer internships for in-state undergraduates at non-profits, businesses and community organizations. These fellowships combine students’ academic pathways with service to enhance both student growth and the public good.
John Small ’76 has worked to advance UNH and the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) for many years, serving on the USNH board of trustees, including as its chairman for two years. This funding has already had a direct impact on student success as well as the vitality of New Hampshire communities now and in the future.
“UNH's growing partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley highlights our commitment to working with K-12 partners to building community and preparing young people for the future,” Chilton says. “It was great to meet with the community leaders at the club and to learn more about their impact and the ways UNH, through programs like the Small Family Community Fellowship, can support their important work.”
"We were thrilled to host UNH President Elizabeth Chilton and UNH Extension's interim director Amy Loader for a tour of the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley. They were able to join Jackie Cohn, our education and engagement manager, for a hands-on STEAM activity with our youth members," says Nicole Forsyth, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley. "Our club is expanding our community partnerships so we can offer more STEAM programming to our youth, and we are very excited to count UNH as one of our new partners. To start, this summer we plan to host a UNH fellow who will help us expand our outdoor education programming."
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Written By:
Amy Slattery | UNH Marketing
