Henri Fresko, a teacher at the Lille campus, coordinates the "La main à la pâte" initiative. The aim is to show preschool and elementary school children that science and technology are accessible to everyone!
"I have been coordinating every year for nearly 20 years on the Lille campus teams of student volunteers to participate in hands-on approach (Science and Technology Support in Primary Schools). They visit primary schools (preschool and elementary) to conduct scientific experiments with children: what causes an object (bottle, piece of steel, etc.) to float or sink? How does a gear work? How can you build a cardboard bridge that can support the weight of a dictionary?Children quickly become fascinated by these experiments. The students also get caught up in the game. They enjoy interacting with the children and learn how to share their knowledge with them. Every year, I recruit about 20 volunteers, and it is extremely rare for any of them to drop out of the project.
The Lille campus is also participating in the "My Machine" project. Primary school children dream up a machine; higher education students design it and high school students build it. This year, Arts et Métiers partnering with Boufflers Monge elementary school and Baggio high school. The challenge was to design a robot that collects waste. Four Arts et Métiers students Arts et Métiers on the project.
These initiatives show young people that science and technology are accessible to everyone! What's more, they enhance the image of the campus and, more generally, the institution among academic partners."
