The Zayante Institute’s first major initiative is the Club Familiar de Ciencias — Family Science Club.
Club Familiar de Ciencias: Océanos Adelante is a bilingual program that seeks to create better futures for Latino, minority, and low income parents and children by increasing their social capital through participation in ocean science inquiry, artistic depictions, and conservation activities. Art is included since it is a necessary tool for visualizing objects in several dimensions, recording data, and designing technology. The program seeks to inspire children and parents to take an interest in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) disciplines and careers.
Club Familiar de Ciencias: Océanos Adelante empowers parents and children through the three E’s: Exposure, Experience, and Expectation. The project is based on a faith community outreach model that reaches whole families and extended families directly and provides for higher expectations and ongoing community support. Parents and children will increase their social networks and social capital as they are connected to professionals and college students in the STEM disciplines as well as digital and fine artists focused on science and the environment.
Art is a key component in this initiative for environmental education of Latinos, drawing on the work of José González. González calls his approach culturaleza – a combination of cultura and naturaleza. González defines it as “The mestizaje of art, culture, and the environment/nature.” Mestizaje generally refers to the creation of the Mexican people as a mixing of European, indigenous, and African peoples. The use here implies another creative synergy. See examples at http://www.josegagonzalez.com/culturaleza.html