START Science Holds Annual End of Year Event 

On Friday, April 4, an atypical sound could be heard coming from Weissberg Commons, the laughter and screams of children. No, the Weissberg commons did not magically turn into a playground, but perhaps you could say, it momentarily turned into a classroom. You see, the sound came from elementary school children from P.S. 189 who had come to the Wilf Campus to end off a year of learning and fun they had through the START Science program.

START Science is a YU club which consists of groups of YU students who make weekly visits to public elementary and middle schools in the Washington Heights to conduct science experiments. Typically, a presentation is given on a scientific concept, after which an engaging activity is performed which demonstrates that concept. For example, the kids are given a presentation on car crash engineering. After the presentation, they must use these concepts to build a contraption which encloses an egg and prevents it from cracking even if dropped from ten feet up.

To end off the 2024-25 school year, it was decided that instead of YU volunteers going to the school, which is the case the rest of the year, the kids would come to us on the Wilf Campus. They would perform a few final activities and be recognized for their work the whole year.

As Joshua Romano (YC ‘27) reflected, “From flying planes to dissecting worms, there was never a dull moment. The students’ excitement was contagious, and honestly, I think we had just as much fun as they did. It was the perfect way to end a year of learning together.” 

For the end of year event, I decided to be at the “marshmallow challenge” table. The goal of the marshmallow challenge is to use principles of physics and engineering to build the tallest tower possible using just spaghetti and marshmallows. Stations manned by other START Science volunteers included balloon rockets, worm dissections, slime and paper airplanes. In addition to the student-led stations, there was a station run by the organization BioBus. BioBus brought a dozen or so microscopes each of which was pointed at a different specimen.

As the first group of kids arrived, I stood along with another volunteer by our station. In the blink of an eye, the table was surrounded by kids. The first priority, of course, was to prevent the marshmallows from being eaten, which we were surprisingly successful in doing. The second priority was to encourage them to get building even if they did not fully understand what to do.

Once the first session had ended the kids were called to the center of the room to hear a few speeches, receive special START T-shirts and certificates for their participation in the program and to take a group picture with the YU volunteers and some of the faculty members present. 

Speeches were delivered by Avishye Moskowitz, one of the presidents of the club, Dean Cypess and the members of Bickoff family, the donors who help keep START Science going. While each speech was certainly unique, there was one common thread: The goal of START Science is not simply to teach science to public school kids in a fun way. The hope is that by showing that science can be fun, we will leave a spark of curiosity and interest in science that very well may last a lifetime.

Following the speeches, the first group of kids left and a second group entered. Unlike the first group, the second group had a premade spaghetti structure to build off of, yet they also had to contend with certain sections of the structure beginning to collapse. Just like a group of professional engineers would do, the weak points were identified and additional supports were added. The only difference being that we are dealing with spaghetti, not concrete and steel. In some small way, fixing the structure taught the kids that when it comes to engineering, or anything in life for that matter, if a problem is identified it should be dealt with immediately because, with time, the issue will become increasingly more difficult to fix. Not before long, the second session concluded.

Like the first group, the kids heard a few speeches, got their certificates and special START T-shirts and took a group photo. I said one last goodbye to the kids I had personally worked with the past year, and to whom I had become quite close. Unfortunately, the time had come to return to school.

The relative silence of Belfer Hall on a Friday had returned. Although I now had marshmallows and spaghetti stuck to the bottom of my shoe, and there was quite a bit of cleanup to be done, I found myself smiling and even laughing a little. This phenomenon was not unique to that Friday. In fact, almost every week I lead an experiment in the classroom. I found myself smiling, even if I knew I would have a substantial amount of cleaning up to do.

After all, there are not exactly many other activities available to me as a YU student that allow me to have a ton of fun while simultaneously knowing your inspiring kids to love science.

Photo Credit: Adena Stevens

Photo Caption: YU Students and START Science Students