ScienceSouth brings the stars, constellations alive inside the A.W. Stanley Gym
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
The stars came out to play last Tuesday when ScienceSouth made a visit to the A.W. Stanley Gym. The event, sponsored by the Macedonia Life-Skills Center, featured several virtual shows as well as activities for the children.
Patsy Sawyer, who started the Life Skills Center, said that the program started small but has expanded.
“We started with 22 kids and it has grown,” Sawyer said. “Since we started the Life Skills Center, roughly 2,000 kids have come through it. A lot of them are in college now and they come back and volunteer here with us, teach some of our classes and everything. It has been tiring but it has been fun.”
Sawyer said that the ScienceSouth day came about during a brainstorming session.
“Dr. Priscilla Welch at Genesis Health Care and I were looking for some programs for our Life Skills Centers,” Sawyer said. “She asked if I had ever looked at ScienceSouth and I told her that I had been meaning to for years but I never did. Her brother Stephen is the Executive Director at ScienceSouth so that is kind of how it happened. We wanted to do something to keep the kids busy and occupied and out of trouble, out of the street. If they don’t have anything to do, they definitely are going to be a little mischievous. Learning in the summer is important too because they get behind and they have to start all over again or play catch up when school starts back.”
Sawyer said that she wishes more churches would start Life Skills Centers because it is a great way to invest in the younger generation. She said that it doesn’t require a lot of room, just a passion for children.
During activity time, students were able to draw their own constellations based on drawings or make a star chart that they can use to find constellations from their own house.
Jaden Jackson said that she had a lot of fun learning about the stars.
