For Chelsea students interested in science, the Latimer Society’s third annual Chelsea Science Festival deserves a spot on the summer schedule.
Co-Directors Leo Robinson and Ronald Robinson are describing this year’s carnival as “Science Carnival,”, emphasizing that it will combine education with entertainment.
The event takes place Friday, Aug. 10, from noon to 5 p.m., at Port Park, 99 Marginal Street. Joseph and Shelagh McNamee of Eastern Minerals have donated the facility, making use of its appealing waterfront setting.
“What we’re trying to do is bring practitioners of science together with members of the community, children, and families,” Ronald Robinson noted. “We’re trying to get our younger students involved in STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math, but we do STEAM and the ‘A’ stands for art.”
According to Robinson, the carnival will feature local and regional scientists along with science-focused organizations.
“It’s our big event of the summer,” Robinson stated. “We’re also working with CAPIC’s youth development center once a week this summer with a program that helps youth learn about designing.”
What will students encounter at the Science Carnival?
Interactive stations staffed by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), the Suffolk County Mosquito Board, and the Latimer Society will be available. The society takes its name from Lewis Howard Latimer, a renowned scientist and inventor born in Chelsea in 1848.
“We’re all about promoting science because he [Latimer] was a noted scientist,” Ronald Robinson explained.
Admission is free for students from Chelsea and surrounding communities, and refreshments will be provided.
“We expect students from Chelsea, Everett, East Boston, and Revere to be at the carnival,” Leo Robinson remarked, noting his long tenure as a city councillor devoted to supporting local students and athletes.
As Ronald Robinson reflected on the Aug. 10 event, he shared an inspiring account involving two Chelsea students, ages 14 and 15, whom he had asked about their career goals.
“One student said he’d like to play at Duke and in the NBA,” Robinson recounted. “I asked him what else he would like to be doing after college. So now I have him and his friend rebuilding a 3-D printer and they’re really enthusiastic about the project. And that’s what we do at the Latimer Society. We connect our youth with the sciences.”
Ronald and Leo Robinson have maintained this commitment through the Latimer Society for more than 20 years.
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