Teens Learn The Basics of Electrical Engineering

For many teens in the suburbs finding something to do after-school and during unsupervised hours can be difficult. The Bridge Teen Center responds with a recent workshop covering the basics of electrical engineering and included guests from the DeVry University community on the Tinley Park campus. 

“It was very hands-on,” said Jennifer Jones, program associate at The Bridge Teen Center. “It was great because it can be difficult to find hands-on activities for the young men. Whereas the girls enjoy cooking and scrapbooking.” Teens explored the basics to engineering, learned how their iPods are wired and even built their own FM radios.

Rachael Gaul, community outreach representative from DeVry, assisted students as they built and tuned in their favorite FM stations. “We do a lot of community workshops that involve STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” Gaul said. “These are where the jobs are. We just need to un-mystify what it means to be an engineer and show students that math and science can be fun.” 

The Bridge Teen Center is located at 15555 S. 71st Court in Orland Park, IL. The Bridge provides free holistically-designed afterschool programming and a safe environment for Friday night entertainment. Monthly programs that help parents navigate through the teenage years are also offered. To date, over 1,400 different students from more than 30 different school districts have been served by The Bridge Teen Center.