Will Bosworth

It’s always a joy to chat with my kids after their Science Club for Girls sessions. The class always has engaging activities and thoughtful materials. They provide a lot of freedom for each person to explore the topics on their own, and then a positive forum to share their findings with each other. I’m struck by how kind and supportive the teachers and group are — I wish all of my work was done in such a positive and supportive environment! I love getting to see the diverse creativity of different students’ work, as well as observe children growing and using their voice in group discussions.

Here’s a cool robot arm prototype that one of my children made recently. The task was to move a ping pong ball between a plate and cup, and this one worked well. I was impressed by how this solution limited the degrees of freedom of the manipulator.

My other child opted for a more anthropomorphic hand study, which I also found striking!

Compared to my own childhood, kids in Somerville have way more options for activities. I grew up with ball sports, scouts, and the occasional school play — and I didn’t particularly like scouts or plays! Today, kids can do all of the old things, or go to a kid hacker space, science club, coding camp, rock climbing, or any of the numerous after-school clubs in the city. I’m excited for how much progress our society is making for kids to have more options to explore in.