NMU hosts second “Reimagine STEM Summer Youth Academy”

MARQUETTE — Beginning this week, local high schoolers will learn creative ways to approach science, technology, engineering and math.

They learned these new approaches based on Native American traditions, culture and knowledge. The goals of the academy are to address the lack of inclusivity of American Indian teaching methods within science education.

One class is studying aquaponics, which combines raising aquatic animals and hydroponics.

“Native Americans usually have a relationship with their ecosystems where they work cooperatively together,” said William Babbitt, Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), “and so it’s important to know that cultural background and to sort of reclaim that relationship with the ecosystem if we’re going to reliably produce food locally.”

Some of the other classes this week include Anishinaabe language, brain science, social psychology and martial arts. Stay with ABC 10 for updates on the class’s aquaponics project later this week.