The Explorit Science Center faces financial challenges and is turning to the community for help
By IHA RASTOGI — science@theaggie.org
Founded in the 1980s by Davis residents who wanted to bring UC Davis-level rigor to scientific education in local schools, the Explorit Science Center is in danger of shutting down as early as this upcoming summer.
Throughout the decades, Explorit has reached hundreds of thousands of people through its dedicated camps and school programs. The non-profit’s website cites connections to 17 different California counties, all of which operate science programming through donations. By hosting several activities for schoolchildren and their families to participate in, including public exhibits, workshops, an astronomy club and even a Science Exposition in the past fall. The center offers numerous opportunities to directly engage in the same science concepts often taught passively in school textbooks.
Glen Lusebrink, a retired schoolteacher who now serves as a board member for Explorit and a volunteer, particularly enjoys the Family Science Night tradition.
“An Explorit team loads a van with plastic tubs full of hands-on science activities and drives to a school sometimes up to an hour away from Davis,” Lusebrink said. “They transform the school’s multi-purpose room into a pop-up science museum. Fossils, earthquakes and reptiles are all part of the experience — and you might even get to hold a Madagascar hissing cockroach.”
During the rocky stretch of surviving the pandemic where all in-person programs were suspended for over 18 months, Explorit staff and board didn’t sit still.
“We have seen growth in both our public visitation and school program participants every year since re-opening after [COVID-19],” Program Director Emily Anderson said via email. “Studies report most science-learning occurs outside of the formal education setting. People, young and old, need places to ignite curiosity and self-directed exploration. Explorit provides those experiences.”
Explorit is actively seeking donations and advocates to fuel its mission.
Board President of Explorit and UC Davis Professor Ken Kaplan advises that making donations through the Explorit website in time for the “Big Day of Giving” on May 1 or reaching out to a board member to get personally involved are excellent ways to support the center.
“Everyone can help ‘Save Explorit,’” Anderson said. “Ask people you see at the farmers market if they’ve heard of Explorit, and encourage them to visit during our open hours. Talk to leaders, school principals and science teachers — spread the word.”
Kaplan emphasized the importance of educational centers like Explorit for local communities.
“In a time when we find it hard to agree about the very facts that describe our world, isn’t investing in the next generation of citizens and thinkers one of the most important things we can do?” Kaplan said.
Written by: Iha Rastogi — science@theaggie.org
