Associate professor Francis Amara brings science to kids through the Biomedical Youth Program.
Street level science: Shaping tomorrow’s trailblazers
WHAT: The Biomedical Youth Program (BYP) is a College of Medicine initiative that connects with Manitoba’s inner-city and disadvantaged youth to instill a love of science.
HOW IT WORKS: Among the BYP’s most successful community-based activities is the Inner-City Science Centre. Young people explore research hands-on in three labs—biotechnology, physics and imaging, and chemical sciences—located in the heart of Winnipeg’s North End. Each year, youth from age 10-18 are also invited to attend the Biomedical Youth Summer Camp (BYSC), a one-week science camp led by 100 volunteer camp counselors at the U of M’s Bannatyne campus. The kids do experiments in medical fields like genetics, immunology and forensics. BYP also offers early-learning programming for Grade 1 to 3 children; after-school science programs for kids in grades 4 to 12; student mentors to help with science fair projects; mobile labs that deliver hands-on activities to First Nations communities; and professional development workshops and seminars for Manitoba Science Teachers.
HOW IT STARTED: Francis Amara, associate professor in biochemistry and medical genetics, founded BYP in 2006 with the inaugural Science Buddies Club. Amara would pack his lab—made up of coolers and containers—into his minivan and head over to Niji Mahkwa School to meet 30 or so Grade 5 students. Together they would talk about science for half an hour. Children would see kids from Niji walking down the street in lab coats and wanted to be part of the excitement. Word quickly spread throughout the neighbourhood and within the year all of the schools in the North End had heard about Science Buddies.
ITS REACH: More than 3,000 students have participated to date. The first science camp hosted 15 youth. Today it welcomes more than 200 students annually.
IN HIS OWN WORDS: “We can see the inner city from the university; they are our neighbours. It’s a natural progression to work with people in your neighbourhood,” Amara says.
FUNDERS: University of Manitoba College Medicine, Winnipeg School Division, The Winnipeg Foundation and Friends of the Inner-City Science Centre Inc.
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