Students from the Valencia High School STEM Club hosted a special “Science Night” at another of Shelter Hope Pet Shop’s Kids’ Night Out events on Friday, May 10.
Shelter Hope tries to host these events monthly to give parents a night off while children can come in, play with the animals and have some fun.
Cecilia Adame, a junior in STEM Club and a volunteer at Shelter Hope, developed the idea to join the two.
“It’s a nice fundraiser for Shelter Hope and STEM Club gets out there to teach more kids,” Adame said. “It’s fun dealing with the kids because they’re excited to learn.”
Kids rotated through various stations with different experiments where students from the STEM Club worked with them to educate the science behind the experiments focusing on man-made materials and technology.
“We have stations set up of different hands-on science activities, all of it is stuff that they can touch, do and see,” said Daniella Duran, STEM Club advisor and NANO science teacher.
Activities included the science behind gummy bears, how water interacts with different surfaces and how different materials react to heat.
Among the experiments, the one which involved watching the chemical reaction of how to make gummy bear was a favorite with the children.
“I like the gummy bears and when you pick the solid out of the liquid,” said Pippa Pyczynski, 7.
Kids were then given pizza, snacks and drinks as Shelter Hope volunteers discussed proper animal care.
All the proceeds from the event will go toward the shelter’s vet bill fund, as spring is kitten season and the shelter has also just rescued two puppies with parvovirus, according to Caouette.
The next Kids’ Night Out will be “Summer Camp” themed and will be held on Friday, June 28 where children will learn about water safety for their pets in preparation for the summer swimming.
