The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) announced that it will hold a Science of Baseball STEM Field Day tomorrow (Friday, May 31) from 11:00 a.m-1:00 p.m. at the Dodgers Dreamfields at Darby Park (3400 W Arbor Vitae Street Inglewood, CA 90301). The program will feature Dodger players Chris Taylor, Matt Beaty and Will Smith, LADF Chief Executive Officer Nichol Whiteman and President of Dodgers Business Enterprise Tucker Kain, as they celebrate the accomplishments of 1,100 local students, who were exposed to a special curriculum this past year that forged connections between math, science and baseball.

“As a part of a new five-year strategic plan, LADF is planning new and significant investments in STEM education,” said Nichol Whiteman, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. “We know that a quality STEM education will provide access and opportunity for youth throughout their college and career paths and we want to use the power of baseball to help create excitement around these important subjects.”

The LADF Science of Baseball curriculum was launched in the Inglewood Unified School District in 2018 and trained 22 teachers to implement the curriculum in 3^rd-5^th grade classrooms at Bennet-Kew Elementary, Worthington Elementary, and Woodworth Elementary Schools. The partnership includes a curriculum featuring 15 hands-on lessons focusing on baseball/softball, professional development training camp for teachers, development kits for 30 classrooms, and a web portal. The initiative aims to provide engaging activities for measurable improvement of and performance in math/science standards.

“The Dodgers’ ambitions have always been bigger than baseball. While building a championship team on the field, we are equally invested in being thought leaders and innovators off the field,” said Tucker Kain, President of Dodgers Business Enterprise. “STEM subjects are at the core of innovation and this early exposure is key to building the next generation of business leaders.”

Friday’s event will serve as a field trip for students and teachers who have participated in the program during the school year. The day will focus on Dodger history as well as applications of science and math in the game, including reaction time, geometry, trajectory of ball flight, torque, statistics, aerodynamics.

“We are so thrilled to be partnering with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation to bring this innovative and fun STEM curriculum to our students,” said Ugema HoseaJames, Executive Director, Elementary Education, Inglewood Unified School District. “Using baseball to teach fundamental concepts is engaging, builds student appreciation, and brings important math and science standards to life.”

The curriculum was created with a grant from LADF to the Science of Sport, a non-profit foundation dedicated to developing curriculum and programing that promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  The curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and developed by Dr. Ricardo Valerdi, founder and Chief Scientist of Science of Sport, and an engineering professor at the University of Arizona and West Point.

The Science of Baseball builds on LADF’s commitment to the Inglewood community with the launch of Dodgers RBI in 2016 and the construction of two Dodgers Dreamfields at Darby Park in 2017.

(Article courtesy of LA Dodgers)

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