The Science Vortex of Verde Valley is partnering with the Sedona Sister Cities Association to send Science Vortex president Laurie Altringer and her son Kellan, an eighth-grader, and daughter Mica, a junior at Mingus Union High School, who are chief science officers with the program, to Jaslo, Poland, this summer, where they will work on a science, technology, engineering and mathematics leadership program in collaboration with the Science Generator museum.

“While the Science Vortex brings a strong history of hands-on, educational programming, the GEN Science offers advanced infrastructure and resources, making the collaboration a powerful and promising match,” a SSCA press release stated.

The CSO program was created and is administered by the Tempe-based SciTech Institute and consists of students in grades 6 through 12 who are elected by their peers to serve as STEM leaders. The students work with professionals and lead projects that promote STEM in their communities, such as helping to organize on star parties and creating a “Kids’ Night Out” monthly event. The SciTech website states that the program currently has participants in 15 states and Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

“We had 13 CSOs this year across all schools in the Verde Valley and we have a couple of homeschoolers,” Altringer said. “I’ll accept applications from anyone. They just need to be able to commit to the year and check their email.”

Participants are required to attend a leadership training course, attend fall and spring meetings in Cottonwood and draft and complete an action plan for providing science education to other kids.

“Through the program, I met someone that majored in biomedical engineering at ASU, and that inspired me when they told me about it, and I think that when I’m older, I want to be a biomedical engineer,” Mica Altringer said.

“The CSO program is especially valuable in our area, because it takes kids living in a rural area and exposes them to the opportunities of urban Phoenix and the greater U.S.,” Altringer said. “So it really opens kids’ eyes to new technology and career opportunities.”

The collaboration between the two organizations was arranged by SSCA board member Don Groves. Both organizations also host science festivals — Jaslo in the fall, the Verde Valley in February — and Altringer said that they are making plans to involve students from both areas in the other’s festival through virtual workshops or coordinated activities.

“Our long-term goal is to try to start a formal exchange program where kids from Science Vortex would go over to Poland and work at the museum for two weeks and vice versa,” Altringer said, and added that she did not think the language difference would be a problem for students.

“The meeting that I had was in English. We will be teaching in English. … and in fact, most of their materials were in both Polish and English for their promotional materials,” Altringer said.

Science Vortex is also working with Camp Verde Middle School to expand the CSO program.

“I recommend that once you become a CSO, take every single opportunity possible,” Mica Altringer said. “Such as tomorrow … I get the opportunity to go to Kartchner Caverns State Park to see how people work there, and so I get a behind-the-scenes opportunity through the CSO program. And I think it’s really cool, because they have all these connections, and they truly can connect you with whoever you want. And so if you’re interested in [a field] they have someone.”

Any student enrolled in the sixth through twelfth grades in the Verde Valley is invited to become a CSO, and those interested can email info@sciencevortex.org for more information.