History and Mission
CU Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y began in 1983 as a pilot program of 10 summer camps at CU Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. The program flourished under the direction of Carol McLaren, who joined the staff in the fall of 1983 and served as Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y’s director until 2005. During Carol’s 22-year tenure, Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y added classroom presentations, teacher professional development workshops and wilderness camps to its suite of science education programming.
Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y is now based at the Rose Litman Research Laboratory building on CU Boulder’s East Campus. In 2010, Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y moved to CU’s Division of Continuing Education, and Stacey Forsyth became the director. Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y currently serves more than 10,000 students and teachers around the state each year, and offers unique opportunities for CU undergraduate and graduate students to gain informal science education experience.
Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y’s mission is to heighten interest and increase literacy in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by providing hands-on experiences that connect students and teachers to current CU science. Science ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ18y capitalizes on CU Boulder’s scientific resources, facilities and expertise to excite students about STEM, expose them to a variety of STEM careers and professionals and inspire a future generation of scientists and engineers.
