On Wednesday, May 6, the Angels, in partnership with Science of Sport, hosted 3,500 students from local schools for Angels STEAM Day.
STEAM Day provided a unique educational opportunity to participate in essential learning concepts from math, physics, engineering, and technology through hands-on sport-science activities.
Science of Sport is a local non-profit organization focused on helping students improve their academics. Daren Heaton, the Executive Director, showcased nine different learning stations across Angel Stadium to teach students about various lessons they can apply to their everyday learning.
“We have thousands of kids engaging with fun activities to help them understand how they can use baseball, the Angels, and their favorite players to improve academically,” said Heaton.
Students received an exclusive chance to listen, learn, and interact with Angels’ reliever Ben Joyce.
“It was cool to see the kids out here having fun, learning, and correlating it to sports. I thought overall it was a cool experience and I’m glad that I could be here,” said Joyce.
Joyce visited the aerodynamic and throwing stations, before speaking with Heaton about his journey through youth baseball and battling adversity all the way to the Big Leagues.
“I wasn’t always very good at baseball, I kind of grinded my way through younger leagues and didn’t make a lot of teams…Having that growth mindset and using all the adversity and the things that don’t go my way to propel me forward to have an optimistic view that things are going to work out,” Joyce said.
After discussing his journey, Joyce was able to take part in the catapult demonstration, which was used to teach students about the concept of launch angle.
“We watch the games, you see these players hit all the time. What people don’t often realize are that there are so many science principles tied into that aspect,” Heaton added.
In the end, STEAM Day provided an excellent opportunity for students to take part in an educational experience outside of the classroom.
“Making it fun for kids to learn and be around the game of baseball or other sports activities…being out in the sun and also learning while you’re out here, I think is a great combination,” Joyce concluded.
At the culmination of STEAM Day, students remained in the ballpark to see many of the same scientific concepts come to life as they watched the Angels take on the Chicago White Sox.
