b'On Tuesday I do piano Who knowswhat in the Music Hub and onstatic electricity is?Wednesday I do Art Hub asksScienceCoordinatorSeanOBrienin the art room. And today ofthe20+childreninwhitelabcoats vigorouslyrubbingballoonsononeI do Science Hub! Im anothersheads, gleefully making their definitely going to comehair stand on end. Did you know youre again and again. making static electricity right now? Initiallypilotedin2011witha A LearningHub attendee group of 12 primary school children whoattendedafter-schoolworkshopsatthe Hub, the science program has grown and extended its range of services. Workshops are run twice a week for children all overLimerickCountyandpartnershipswith local universities bring in volunteers and student mentors. These mentors not only assist in hands-on teaching, but provide the children with first-hand exposure to someone receiving a 3rd level education. Theagegroupbetweenages 8-15isakeytime,explainsLearning HubManagerJenniferMoroneyWard.Personaldevelopmenthappens,alot ofideasandaspirationsareformed,or hopesaredashed.Werehereatthatcrucial time to provide a learning experi-ence they might not otherwise receive.ThegrantfromTheIrelandFunds hasbeencrucialtogrowingtheSci-ence Hub. It was in a pilot phase whenthen-student Sean OBrien came on board to teach as part of his final year project at the University of Limerick. Now, thanks to The Ireland Funds grant, he has come on board as the Science Coordinator and can devote time and energy to instilling a passion for science in the children that attend. A lot of kids in Ireland drop science after first year in secondary school. They dont even get to do it to junior level. So were here to try and plug that gap, says Jennifer. The funding we received from The Ireland Funds allowed us to leverage even more support. Thats a real key role forIrelandFundsgrants:itsastampofapproval.Weweresuccessfulwithanothergrantapplicationafterwards and if we hadnt gotten the funding fromTheIrelandFunds,thatmightnothavehappened.Ittrulymadeusmoreattractive to other funding partners.And so in the midst of music lessons, art classes, computer models and health tutorials, children from Limerick are also learningaboutwhathappenswhenyou insertelectricalwiresintolemonsand how kinetic energy can actually be excit-ing. As Jennifer sums it up, It is our job to Sean OBrien, Science tell the story of how wonderful these kids Hub Coordinator, instills are and what can be achieved. They are as capable of taking on a science experiment his love of science at as any other kid is. It doesnt matter what the LearningHub their address is or what school they go to. They have the capacity to give it a go.connect2015 | 212013'