Saratoga News

Education

YSI facilities expansion creates labs, space for more programs

By Michele Leung

The hissing cockroach and the chinchilla don't mind the cramped quarters at the Youth Science Institute nature center at Vasona Park. After all, they have their own cages to call home. But the human inhabitants at YSI are thrilled there will be more room to stretch out. YSI leaders say the two classrooms now being built will allow them to offer more programs and expand YSI.

YSI provides hands-on enrichment science programs to 30,000 local students each year. Children learn about insects, birds and the watershed through field trips to the learning center at Vasona or its two sister sites at Sanborn Park in Saratoga and San Jose's Alum Rock Park. YSI also offers after-school programs and summer science camps. The Vasona center is YSI's busiest location.

YSI leaders liken the current learning center at Vasona as a "one-room schoolhouse" that also serves as the exhibit area, administrative offices and storage room. YSI has embarked on a capital campaign to raise $1 million for the expansion plans, and donors have already contributed about $700,000. Crews are putting the finishing touches on a 2,800-square-foot building, complete with two red and green classrooms, restrooms and a storage area, next to the current facility.

"We have just plain run out of room," said project director Daniel Margulies.

The expansion is the first YSI has undertaken in its 53-year history.

One of the long-term goals YSI executive director Susanne Mulcahy has is to expand YSI's programs so there are activities devoted to middle and high school students, who are currently left out of a majority of YSI programs. To that end, four labs for chemistry, physics and biology classes are being installed in the new facility.

"We want to reach more kids with a broader selection of programs," Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy added the storage space will be significant because all teaching material can be housed in one room. Currently, boxes of material are stacked on top of each other in the back of the nature center, but some are also stored in an employee's garage because there is no room at the Vasona site.

"It's not all accessible," Mulcahy said. "We want to consolidate in one room."

The new building, which will be devoted entirely to youth programs and no administrative duties, is expected to be open for business at the end of this year.

The learning center at Sanborn Park will also receive some attention, as YSI leaders are just beginning to look at renovation plans for that facility. The center operates out of a 100-year-old former private residence, which is showing its age. The stone-and-wood building is poorly insulated, and mice have been known to scurry through the old house, Mulcahy said. A new roof and better functioning toilets are among the improvements.

"It's an old house, and it needs a fair amount of renovation," Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy said YSI's role in the community is important because the organization fills a void in schools.

"Our focus is addressing the science education crisis," she said. "In the elementary schools, teachers are not trained to teach science. The significant focus is on reading, writing and math, which are critical. But science is one of the cornerstone subjects that can get left behind."

For more information on YSI and summer science camps, visit www.youthscience.org.