During the first quarter of 2021, The Foundation at Hearst Castle sponsored several classes from Wasco Union Elementary School District for the STEAM Program at the Castle. Wasco is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California about 24 miles northwest of Bakersfield.
The free program has expanded to a multi-day format including films, two livestream tours, STEAM-curriculum based at-home projects, plus a fun gaming app that allows students to follow Agent X on a virtual mission at Hearst Castle.
Thanks to the efforts of the 7th & 8th grade STEM teacher/coordinator for Wasco Union Elementary School District, Michael Polley, we have been able to gather wonderful photos of students participating in the livestream tours at both Hearst San Simeon State Beach and on the Hearst Castle hilltop.
Almost 300 students from both Palm Ave Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School participated in the groundbreaking virtual program.
Palm Ave Middle School students experience the STEAM Program at Hearst Castle and Hearst San Simeon State Beach via Zoom.
On the Hearst Castle hilltop, students tour the Assembly Room — the grand social room on the ground floor of Casa Grande. In keeping with the STEAM theme, they learn about the lighting and the steel-reinforced concrete construction.
Students are fascinated by the Nine Muse Sarcophagus at Hearst Castle. Carved around 230-250 A.D., the front depicts a young man with the Greek gods Apollo and Athena, along with the nine muses – the minor deities who inspired literary arts.
CA State Parks Interpreter Robin Hazard shows students the pier at the William R. Hearst Memorial State Beach, which is protected under the California Marine Life Protection Act, and is home to a sea otter preserve and part of a colony of 15,000 elephant seals that stretches to neighboring Cambria.
CA State Parks Interpreter Robin Hazard presents from William R. Hearst Memorial State Beach, which is protected under the California Marine Life Protection Act, and is home to a sea otter preserve and part of a colony of 15,000 elephant seals that stretches to neighboring Cambria.
The Foundation at Hearst Castle continues to support the conservation of Hearst Castle, but the 35-year old nonprofit has shifted focus to expanding education programs for kids — kids who might not otherwise have the chance to see the views from the Hearst Castle hilltop, learn about female pioneer Julia Morgan who built this historic treasure 100 years ago, tour the accredited museum, and think about how all this might shape the vision they have for their future selves.
President of the Board Abe Marquez questions, “What’s the point of conserving and restoring this place, if not to inspire kids to dream bigger?”
Marquez — who has also mentored young people as Livestock Superintendent at the Monterey County Fair for 40 years and Junior Fair Board Advisor at the Salinas Valley Fair for more than 30 years — wants to use Hearst Castle to help middle schoolers consider a range of potential career paths. The idea is to challenge kids to think about how everything they experience during the multi-day STEAM program might shape the vision they have for their futures.
President Marquez’s mission is clear: “I hope that what they see inspires them to discover a bright future and maybe become a leader one day. Whether they lead the field in architecture, engineering, carpentry, gardening, art, teaching, or even media or government — I want them to do great things!”
For more information on the STEAM Program at the Castle, click here.
To support the continuation of this incredible initiative, click here.
