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March Mammal* Madness

*plus some non-mammals

This year we will be participating in March Mammal Madness. This is a yearly bracketed contest to see which animals would win out in a [hypothetical] tournament style combat.

The idea is to give kiddos a chance to research the offensive and defensive traits of a series of animals and to think about the circumstances that might lead one to winning.

The folks behind the organization create realistic scenarios and probabilities for the outcome of those scenarios. From there, they roll the proverbial dice to determine outcomes and winners. Not all matches are to the death either. A well fed predator may choose to forfeit a round rather than risking an injury.

So get your kiddos researching these animals. We’ll be posting fact sheets up around STEAM Lab and encouraging kiddos to make their own brackets. Adults can participate, too! We’ll hand out a free month membership to the winner if we get at least 10 participants.

You can find your 2020 bracket at Mammals Suck … Milk.

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Now Hiring

We are currently looking for the right people for a few positions.

Tutors: We are in need of a supply of after school tutors as our Beast Academy Math program grows and we add homework help and reading tutoring. This is a great job for a high school student and can be flexible (adults welcome, too). We have immediate need for someone on Wednesdays from 1pm – 2pm. Pay starts at $10/hr.

Spanish Speaking Tutor: We have immediate need for a Spanish speaker to help a few Middle and High School students who are not fluent in English. The students need help with math, English, science, and history. We will have someone on hand to help if the math gets tricky. Tutors would work 3 hrs a week and have a flexible schedule. Pay starts at $20/hr.

Summer Camp Coordinator: We are accepting resumes for a summer camp coordinator. This person would help oversee our Summer Camp so that we could extend it into July and August. They must have experience working with groups of children and work well with neuro-diverse kids. Pay starts at $20/hr.

Summer Camp Teachers: In addition to offering a free-form summer camp, we’d also like to offer some half-day enrichment classes. If you have a class idea that fits into the STEAM fields, come talk to us! Pay starts at $20/hr.

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Tutoring and Homework Help

I have a pipe-dream of attaching a free tutoring and homework center to STEAM Lab where kiddos of all ages can come, get help with their homework, projects, or just concepts they’re struggling with. We’d hire high schoolers to offer assistance and have an adult supervisor for tougher questions and behavioral disputes.

After kiddos finished their homework then they’d get to head over to STEAM Lab and drop-in for free or at a discounted rate. We’d make the whole experience as fun as possible and maybe get Fleur de Lys or Ruby K’s to offer some $5 vouchers for kids who come in a certain number of times a month.

In order to make this possible, we’d need to rent additional space, hire tutors, a coordinator, etc. So in reality we need some sort of funding source or sponsor. If you have any ideas for us (keeping in mind that we are still and LLC and not a non-profit) we’d love to hear them.

In the meantime, we’ve created a survey to help identify the scope and extent of the need so that we can make more informed choices. Please go fill it out!