‘In 2002, under the “Equal Opportunities” Program, the Foundation supported a project whose aim was to find solutions to several serious problems faced by the Polish education system, namely what should be done to arouse students' interest in science, motivate them to be active and shape their competencies as well as how to train teachers in making use of modern methods in their work,'
The goal of the Young Explorer Clubs’ is to promote knowledge of science among children and youth. The Clubs allow learning by experimentation. The Young Explorer Clubs network, consisting of 150 registered clubs, creates opportunities for both teachers and students. Teachers get access to the base of lesson scenarios, which help to arouse students’ interest and imbue in young people a passion for science. The students can also discuss, get to know the world through experimentation, contact members of other clubs and carry out joint research projects.
Almost a hundred Young Explorer Club minders from Poland, and also from Georgia and Belarus (as the YEC communities are being established also abroad) participated in the meeting in the Copernicus Science Center. During numerous workshops, they had an opportunity to share their experiences, inspire each other and plan joint projects as well as develop their abilities to motivate and master their competencies. On top of that, they listened to a lecture on ‘Touching souls: using science as children’s empowering tool’ given by an expert in children and youth education, Oved Kedemem, PhD, Educational Projects’ Director at Weizmann Institute, Israel. And they participated in practical lab classes that included a series of more than twenty experiments with the use of CSC’s exhibits which they will be able to perform in a simplified form in their clubs.
The Young Explorer Clubs project was launched in 2002 at the initiative of the Education Society of Kłodzko. For many years it had been supported by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation as part of its “Equal Opportunities” Program implemented by the Polish Children and Youth Foundation. In 2009, the undertaking was transferred to the Copernicus Science Center, whose mission is to support individual learning and exploring the world as well as inspiring social dialogue on science. The Polish-American Freedom Foundation remains the partner in this initiative. In May 2012, the Copernicus Science Center and the Polish-American Freedom Foundation concluded the agreement on partnership and YEC development cooperation.
