by Alex Martin
Executive Director
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July 11, 2024 - I'm an author by nature. I've been writing sci-fi novels since I was 11 years old in the distant year of....2004. Now, 20 years on, I haven't stopped writing, with my eighth book set to be published in April 2025. There's a reason I bring this up. Hang in there.
In 2014-2015, I wrote my fifth book, Resonance. It's the longest of my current series, where the main character comes into his own and steps forward in taking control of his life, creating his purpose, and building relationships with the people who have become his second family. Beyond that, I made a website for Resonance that immersed readers headlong into a greater exploration of that world within the books.
Around the end of 2017, having moved from Pittsburgh, PA to Savannah, GA, I found I also loved to write about science - at least, explainers about scientific concepts. I added a "real world" page to the website and published a few articles of my own. Within a couple of months, I began making videos, first on my own, filming on the boardwalk above the marsh outside my apartment on Whitemarsh Island in Savannah, then in the city when I moved downtown. The videos began to incorporate interviews with people on the sidewalks, asking them questions and guiding them through answers. I noticed that whenever the interviews included a quick science experiment, a few bystanders would stop and watch.
July 11, 2018 doesn't necessarily mark the day I created SSC. In fact, it doesn't even mark the first documented time I used the term "Sidewalk Science Center" (that would be six days later, on July 17, 2018, on an Instagram post of a video I took of a squirrel during SSC, at the very end of the hashtags, of all things. I had been calling it #ScienceInSavannah up to that point). No, July 11, 2018 is the day I received a street performance permit from the city of Savannah to collect donations. I also began collecting attendance data on that day. I don't know if I'll ever pinpoint the exact day I decided to call it Sidewalk Science Center, but hey, 7/11 is good enough for me.
The last time I hosted SSC in Savannah was on November 10, 2018, a week before moving to Florida. I visit every year (might not make it this year) and stand where I stood with that first rickety 4x2 table that had a snapped leg, just 30 feet from the fountain at the center of Forsyth Park. It's like going home. I relive all the memories that come flooding back. The man who always walked by with his aging dog, then with her in a padded cart, then, one day, came by without her. The girl who accidentally broke the first -- and somehow, only -- hand boiler. The mom of two girls who came by every day for a week while their dad was at a conference, and gave me a lifetime pass to the South Carolina Aquarium as a thank you. Yes, I still have it, and yes, I still go when I'm in the area! The kids who ended up buying a microscope and bringing it to SSC to show me. The mom who told me how her 4th grade daughter's school didn't have science classes. The dad and daughter from North Carolina who evacuated to Savannah during Hurricane Florence in September 2018. The art history professor from SCAD who brought his class out for an hour to do experiments.
Six years on, SSC is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a team of 14 employees. As of July 10, 2024, we've hosted 226 Sidewalk Science sessions, 300 Sidewalk Astronomy sessions, and 187 private events, averaging 118 events per year. In 2024, we're on track for at least 225 events, with a stretch goal of 250. We've seen nearly 82,000 visitors since 2018, for an average of roughly 13,500 visitors per year (our two lowest years being 2020 and 2021, obviously). We've hosted SSC up and down the east coast, and almost all the way to the west coast. We've put in thousands of volunteer and employee hours.
Plenty of other organizations do science outreach on the street, whether it's called Street STEM, Mobile Museums, Sidewalk Science (but not with the Center; we've trademarked that and will be registering it officially), or any of the plethora of names public outreach calls it. When the concept already exists in practice, we need to be creative, efficient, and stand out from other programs. By dedicating our focus almost entirely to outreach, we eliminate costs and functions that would otherwise restrain some of our abilities:
For now, we don't have a brick-and-mortar space, saving thousands each year that can go straight into materials and programs
We consolidate all materials to be run on a single or double set of tables in most cases, eliminating the need for a cargo truck or van
With one or two exceptions, our employees own their telescopes, eliminating storage and transport needs for telescopes we regularly use, and all others are in storage for larger events
Employees live up and down the Florida Gulf Coast and in parts of Central Florida, allowing us to host regular events along a 150-mile corridor and establish a presence far beyond our free SSC boundaries while minimizing transportation costs for employes in different regions
All of these factors allow us to host outreach several days per week and cement our presence in the community as be a reliable source of free and low-cost educational experiences and activities. We've watched kids grow up, made friends with families, and developed lasting connections with businesses and organizations in Sarasota, Bradenton, and beyond. In the long-term, Sidewalk Science Center aims to become a statewide, then national program, with free SSCs in every major city year-round where we can, and seasonally where we can't.
At our current 2024 cadence, one Sidewalk Science Center reaches an average of 2,400 people per month, or 28,800 people per year (we're estimating 35,000 - 40,000 by the end of 2024; summer is our slow season). If we had just one SSC in every state, we have the potential to reach 120,000 people each month, nearly 1.5 million per year. Now imagine if we had one SSC in the United States' largest 200 cities: that's 288 million visitors. Obviously not 288 million individual people, meaning there are now lots of repeat visitors who would receive regular exposure to scientists, educators, and activities, as well as free access to educational resources nearly every day of the week.
That's the long-term vision, the reach and impact SSC can have. We have proven, on tight operational budgets and only one free location running at any given time, that SSC is capable of building into an organization that keeps science and education in public view simply by integrating into parks and playgrounds, beaches and outdoor malls, and other places where people already go. They don't need to intentionally choose and make time to visit a science center. Parents who work late or weekend jobs can take their kids to the community playground in the evening and know that we will be there to provide activities, telescopes, and other experiences for their kids to enjoy, because they might not have the opportunity to visit a museum or science center on a "normal" schedule. On the flipside, after visiting SSC, people who wouldn't normally visit a museum or science center might now make time to do so, or choose to continue exploring a concept they were exposed to when they stopped at our tables. SSC proves that it is possible to improve and expand access and exposure to science and education on a small-by-comparison budget.
When it comes to our private programs, I'm proud to say our minimum wage at SSC is $30.00 per hour, with some educators and employees making up to $35.00 per hour. We also reimburse mileage outside a 25-mile radius at the yearly federal rate, ensuring educators are compensated for the time and maintenance that goes into driving to events 1-2 hours from where they live. With 97 private events in the past 365 days, and a projection for 150 in the upcoming 365 days, we're confident that SSC will become someone's part-time, and even full-time job in the next few years. For our employees, this has included traveling to Oregon, Indiana, and Arizona for two eclipses and a STEM conference in the past year alone, on top of other experiences and opportunities we receive as we network and form relationships with individuals and organizations around the state.
Some funny stories as I wrap up:
Chap, one of our astronomers in Sarasota, told me a few months back this is the most he's ever had to use his telescope (in a good way!)
Connie, an educator in St. Pete, said she's never traveled so much around Florida (and to think she originally said she only wanted to do events in St. Pete! Now she signs up for them all over).
Chris, from Tarpon Springs, found us via the Tampa Bay Estuary Program newsletter last October; six months later, Jessica, who it turns out wrote that newsletter, now works as an Event Coordinator for our Tampa Bay and Central Florida regions.
Six years feels like no time at all, yet looking back, feels to be a lifetime. SSC has existed for 20% of my life. It's had ups and downs, hiatuses and feverish 17-days-in-row event streaks. The going isn't always easy. I've worked odd jobs while running this, and as anyone obsessed with a project inevitably does, burned out every few months while teaching high school for three years. As it continues to develop, we've smoothed out some of the rough edges and worked to decrease the workload both on myself and our educators so we can provide experiences the best way we can, while remaining motivated to provide these programs and services.
As someone who is restless and doesn't fit into the regular work mold, who wants to be out there and not stuck in an office; who wants to regularly interact with people, but not give the same tours day-in and day-out at a museum; who wants to travel and take my work on the road; who wants to write books and keep up my other hobbies... Jobs like this don't really exist in the standard workforce, even in the informal education market. I created this job, and it has led to experiences I would never have had otherwise. In recent years, I've been able to share some of those experiences with people who have joined our team, and I know that in the years ahead, SSC will be sought after in the education workforce, where collaborations, travel, and working your own hours are the norm, and experiencing kids, teens, and adults alike learn and explore and have those "aha!" moments is a major satisfaction factor, the reward of the job, the reason behind it all.
I like to think SSC's timeline is very much like time travel in Doctor Who: certain events are fixed and cannot be changed, and caused certain things to happen. Had Christopher Paolini not written his book Eragon at the age of 15, I probably would not have started writing my own books at the age of 11. Had I not started writing books, I wouldn't have written Resonance. Had I not written Resonance, I wouldn't have created a science-fiction website. Had I not created a science-fiction website, I wouldn't have started a small science blog. Had I not started a science blog, I wouldn't have started making science videos. Had I not started making science videos, I wouldn't have started Sidewalk Science Center. It's funny to look back, knowing that each of those points in time led to the next, and now you're here, witnessing SSC grow in real-time.
Thank you for being a part of this journey, and for all the support we have received in this and prior years. Your attendance and experiences at Sidewalk Science Center is the key to all of this. Public SSCs have been free to attend since the beginning, and they will remain that way for as long as we exist. We do this for you, for our communities, for greater access to education and resources, for increased science literacy, and, hopefully, for improved civil discourse between members of the community. We're excited to continue serving Sarasota, Bradenton, and beyond in the coming months and years. Stop by, say hello, learn something new, and remember:
Science is everywhere.
To all our endeavors,
Alex Martin
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