With most students enrolled in distance learning for almost a year now, the STEAM Program at the Castle offers a break from the norm and provides students a virtual field trip in collaboration with CA State Parks. Hearst Castle tour guide and PORTS Programs lead, Tracy Kosinski, has played an instrumental role in building our free educational program. 

Tracy explains, “Our aim is to relate the story of architect Julia Morgan and the building of Hearst Castle with each student’s personal experience. We use the principles of STEAM to demonstrate how the Hearst estate was built and to enforce the vast opportunities in the scientific fields.”

STEAM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The Foundation invites students from middle schools in underserved areas of California to participate in the unique program meant to inspire, educate, and entertain. 

Hearst Castle Guide Tracy Kosinski points to the outdoor 104-foot-long Neptune Pool—designed by the castle’s overall architect Julia Morgan. (Photo: David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com)

“The idea is to communicate the challenges of Julia Morgan’s own life and career path as an architect in the early 1900’s and to reveal — through her architectural achievements — how she created the life she dreamed of and set out, with purpose, to accomplish,” adds the Hearst Castle tour guide.

Tracy Kosinski summarizes the intention of the STEAM Program at the Castle perfectly. “We hope to incite an excitement and a connection with the story of Hearst and Morgan to help inspire students to believe in their own vision.”

Thanks, Tracy!

The Foundation at Hearst Castle partners with Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument and State Park to host a virtual education program. The multi-day online experience is an iteration of the innovative in-person opportunity the nonprofit organization introduced in 2018.

The students’ favorites? “The pools and all the gold,” Kosinski said. “They are wowed by the gold!”

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For more information on the STEAM Program at the Castle, click here.

To support the continuation of this incredible initiative, click here.