Fleet Impacts Our Entire Region
The Fleet Science Center recently released its first Impact Report with data and stories demonstrating the organization’s effect on students and adults throughout San Diego County. The 50-year-old Fleet is perhaps best known for its museum in Balboa Park, which boasts the world’s first tilted dome planetarium and dome IMAX theater.
Yet, as President and CEO Steve Snyder notes, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Fleet works with neighborhoods, schools and partners from San Ysidro to Escondido.”
The Impact Report shows the Fleet Science Center served 57,177 students from 291 schools covering 81 San Diego County ZIP codes. The total number of adults and youth the Fleet served in 2022–2023 was 386,175, a 24% increase over the previous year. New initiatives include the San Ysidro STEM Fair, Full STEAM Ahead/Adelante STEAM in National City, Lemon Grove Thriving Students Community of Practice and Fleet on the Go in Neighborhood Libraries.
“We are particularly proud of these new programs because they were co-created with community partners,” said Mwenda KudumuBiggs, Vice President for Community Service and Engagement. “Co-creating builds mutual respect and prioritizes each neighborhood’s unique assets, which means these programs are designed to directly serve community needs.”
Youth Development and Young Women in STEM programs also emphasize the Fleet Science Center’s commitment to supporting students and building STEM identity. A recent graduate of the BE WiSE (Better Education for Women in Science and Engineering) program shared the impact the Fleet’s program had on her. “My understanding of the world really grew throughout my time in this program,” she shared with GB Magazine. “I made connections with people in fields I may want to work in. I made friends from different walks of life, whom I would never have gotten the chance to know without BE WiSE. I think it is really important for the next generation to be a part of this program to give them a fuller life currently, and in the future.”
These are just a few examples of the ways that the Fleet Science Center connects all of San Diego to the power of science both in its flagship Balboa Park location and in all the communities of San Diego County.
For more information on the Fleet Science Center’s programs, exhibitions and activities, you can read the 2023 Impact Report here: http://www.fleetscience.org/about-us/impact.
