1:0 in favour of education
Bergisches Schul-Technikum's MINT Arena wins the Diversity Award
Sarah-Lena Debus (2nd from left), Daniya Belkheir (3rd from left) and Giuseppina Lauricella-Giglia (right) accepted the Diversity Award for the zdi centre BeST in Osnabrück. // Photo Hermann Pentermann
"With the MINT Arena, we are breaking new ground to get children and young people interested in MINT subjects, i.e. maths, computer science, natural sciences and technology," explains BeST Director Sarah-Lena Debus. The programme brings technology workshops directly to sports clubs and combines exercise, team spirit and technology. The participants work on various tasks - such as programming robots - and then compete against each other in small challenges, for example playing a football tournament with the robots or steering them through a course of basketballs. "This is a fun way to experience technology - and we also reach young people in the clubs who otherwise rarely take part in extracurricular STEM programmes," continues Debus.
The BeST in action
You can get an insight into the MINT Arena in the YouTube video of the award ceremony.
Captivating programme
The STEM Arena is a prime example of modern, future-oriented STEM education, according to the reasons for the award, which the federal association of school laboratories "LernortLabor" presented to the zdi centre BeST at its annual conference in Osnabrück in March. "We are honouring a project that not only teaches STEM education, but completely redefines it as a captivating, immersive experience."
Every year, the federal association honours outstanding achievements and commitment by school labs and their networks with the "LeLa Prize". Projects in various categories are honoured. The prize is endowed with a total of 40,000 euros. With this prize, the association aims to provide valuable impetus for the further development of the school laboratory landscape in Germany.
Sponsor or organise a MINT arena
In order to be able to run STEM arenas with other clubs in the future and give even more children access to technology, the zdi centre BeST is looking for interested companies or other sponsors to support the project financially. The clubs usually require equipment such as jerseys or balls. Both can be customised with company logos, for example.
Sports clubs interested in the MINT Arena project can also contact the centre manager directly by email: debus[at]zdi-best.de. The BeST can be contacted by telephone on 0202/439-1833 or 0202/439-1935.
About the Bergisches Schul-Technikum
The aim of the zdi centre BeST project is to inspire pupils to take an interest in technology and science. It has been run by the University of Wuppertal since 2008 and receives financial support from the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the North Rhine-Westphalia Regional Directorate of the Federal Employment Agency. With its extracurricular courses for pupils from year 7 onwards in cooperation with regional companies, the zdi centre BeST creates opportunities to get young people interested in scientific and technical careers at an early age.
