Science educators from the Lynch School of Education have teamed up with the Watertown Children’s Theatre at the Mosesian Center for the Arts to land a two-year, $300,000 National Science Foundation grant to engage local middle school students—particularly those from populations underrepresented in STEM—in science-learning experiences.

The students will take part in a summer program, during which they will produce 10-minute plays focused on scientific themes relevant to their lives. Participants’ science learning will continue during the school year, part of which will involve honing their productions in preparation for the Cambridge Science Festival and at other local venues where professional adult actors will perform their plays.

Walt McGough, Meghan Hill, and Mike Barnett

Playwright Walt McGough, Artistic Director Meghan Hill, and LSOE Prof. Mike Barnett at a Converge Theatre production in 2017.

The innovative pilot program, which kicks-off on Nov. 1, reflects the NSF’s strategy to enhance STEM learning in informal environments.

WCT Producing Artistic Director Meghan Hill will serve as principal investigator; Lynch School of Education professors G. Michael Barnett and Belle Liang, and Senior Research Associate Helen Zhang are co-principal investigators.

The program builds off a one-act play, “The Important Thing About Earthquakes,” the first production of The Converge Theatre Project, which Barnett established to connect the WCT and faculty from LSOE and the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. The production, which debuted last spring, was supported in part by a grant from the Office of the Provost’s Research Across Disciplines and Schools program.

—Phil Gloudemans | University Communications