Fifteen-year-old Lakishe McPike was getting ready to team-teach a summer science class for young kids at Girls, Inc. 

But, one little girl at her table had her head down and was crying. 

Before class started, Lakishe sat next to the girl and talked to her. By the time the class started, the youngster had stopped crying but wasn’t participating in the discussion. 

Lakishe said, “She was crying because the teacher in her last class had upset her. I told her, no matter how mad that gets you, you can’t let it get you down.

“I told her, if she participated in all our science exercises, she’ll feel a lot better.”

Lakishe was right. Before the science class was half over, the girl was smiling, dancing around, taking part in the experiments and having a good time. 

That example of class management is just one of the ways a group of 45 St. Louis area teenagers performed this summer in their first paying jobs. They were teaching interns in a unique science education program sponsored by the St. Louis Science Center. 

Lakishe was one of six teachers in the weekly science classes for younger girls at Girls, Inc. in north St. Louis. The team also taught classes at three other locations each week. 

The goal of the classes was to give children in lower-income areas of St. Louis a chance to learn more about science at an early age. 

At the same time, the interns were having a learning experience of their own. They got their first pay checks, learned more about science themselves and also were taught a variety of job skills. 

Interns are recruited each year by the Science Center while their in middle schools. But, since kids can’t hold a paying job until they’re 14, most interns are high school students. .

Another 15-year-old intern, Brandon Byrd, said science is actually his worst subject in school. But, while he gets ready to teach young kids, “I’m learning to understand things about science I’ll need to know in high school.” 

He said the staff development classes the interns take each Friday are important too. He said he wouldn’t talk much at first but the development classes helped him with his communication skills. 

During the Girls, Inc., classes, his humorous teaching style caught the attention of youngsters at nearby tables as well as those at his own. 

He said his teaching style is “to make science fun for them.” He added, “I try to have a good time with them.” 

Tiffany Atkinson, another 15-year-old, also doesn’t plan to make science her career. “I’m not interested in science. I want to own a day-care center when I grow up,” she said. 

She said communication skills she’s learning will be useful in the future. Also, her class work with the younger girls at Girls,Inc., is important. 

“Since I want to own a day-care, it helps to learn how to work with the kids here,” she added. 

Another 15-year-old, Reginald Jones, said he plans to have a law career when he gets older. He said the emphasis on teamwork in the Science Center’s staff development classes are important to him. 

“Before, I did most things myself,” he said.

Elizabeth Bell is a 15-year-old from East St. Louis. She said, if she’s faced with a discipline problem in class, she tries to talk to younger kids as equals. “If you try to be harsh with them, they’ll usually do just the opposite,” she said. 

The supervisor of this team of interns is Carrie Dietz, a psychology graduate from University of Missouri-St. Louis. She stops the class once in awhile to make a scientific point or two with the younger children. 

But, most of the time, the young kids are broken into small groups and the teenage interns do the teaching. 

The seven-week science course at Girls, Inc., included lessons in chemistry, biology, geology, sound and light energy and magnetism. 

In the geology class, interns led four different experiments, including one involving a paper mache volcano. The lava “eruption” was triggered by mixing baking soda and vinegar. The kids even got to pick the lava color by adding food coloring before the vinegar. 

The interns usually work 30 hours a week and earn minimum wage. Four days a week, they teach younger kids at different locations and on Fridays they all meet for staff development classes.