Our GENERATION2050 Alumni and mentor team spent the day at the beautiful, new “Philip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science” in Miami, on Saturday. This trip is the first of many activities we will embark on this school year to build upon the knowledge and skills the students began to unlock during the summer. This Fall, we will be focusing on environmental stewardship. The Frost Museum was the perfect place to expand our understanding of environmental stewardship by expanding our knowledge about the ecosystems in South Florida. We had a wonderful day!

Earlier in the month, my team had visited the museum to develop a science scavenger hunt for the students. The set of questions we developed took them to every nook and cranny of the museum to find answers. They are so internet savvy, though, we added the requirement of not only finding the correct answer, but also taking a picture of themselves next to the place where they found the answer. (Google has the answers for everything….)

We took a break mid-day for Part 2 of the creative writing workshop they began with James Klynn in July. The assignment he gave them in July was to create a poem to match the title “Who Am I?” The poems that our students wrote are heartfelt and inspiring. A number of them shared their poems outside on the steps of Frost Museum’s Museum Park.

Here is one of the poems presented on the steps:

WHO AM I?

Who am I?
I don’t know
who I will be.
I will show
I never feel threatened or scared
But I cry for the visually impaired.
They don’t deserve it.
They don’t see
when they will be free;
free to see the people they love
And cry tears because of the above.
I’m a lady. A proud Hispanic.
My dad taught me not to panic
Because I know how to manage my rights and my wrongs.
I’m a teen and I know not to go along.
No gang violence, no baby on the way
But hey, I’m 13 and know not to go that way.
I’m grateful, thankful
and never hateful.
That’s who I am and what I’ll be and I will see
a better future.
~Zona Perez

I am very encouraged and excited about this inaugural group of GENERATION2050 Alumni and our amazing team of mentors. My goal for this school year is to inspire the students in such a way that they will begin to envision themselves as leaders in business, science, engineering, government, and the creative arts. I am believing the students will create dreams for themselves akin to what Stephen Spielberg was talking about:

“You have many years ahead of you to create the dreams that we can’t even imagine dreaming.” ~ Stephen Spielberg

(Photo credit: Deon Gedeon and Linda Freeman, Frost Museum of Science, Miami, Florida, August 2017. The poem “Who Am I?” was printed with permission.)