Summer Science Project: STEM Summer Programs for Youth Development

No—the Summer Science Project is delivered as part of Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley Summer Camp. No BGC membership is required to participate in Summer Camp or access Saved By Nature's specialized environmental programming. Saved By Nature handles all enrollment coordination on your behalf. Simply submit our interest form, and our team will take care of contacting the appropriate clubhouse and coordinating your BGC Summer Camp enrollment to access our programming.

When you submit our interest form, you'll answer questions about your preferred clubhouse location and any specific needs for your child. Based on your responses, our team reaches out directly to the appropriate BGC Summer Camp coordinator on your behalf to facilitate enrollment. We then follow up with you regarding the next steps in the BGC Summer Camp enrollment process and confirm your child's access to Saved By Nature programming.

We understand that the current seven-clubhouse model may not serve all interested families. If you're outside the service area, we encourage you to join our waitlist for future direct programming. Saved By Nature is actively building toward standalone youth programs. By joining our interest list, you'll be among the first notified when we launch direct enrollment opportunities.

Most science summer camps are run by a single organization with one area of expertise. The Summer Science Project brings together seven different environmental agencies, each contributing their specialized knowledge. In a single week, youth might meet a live owl from WERC, learn about fish migration from Valley Water scientists, build a worm composting system with Garden to Table, and explore wetland ecology with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service rangers. This diversity of expert instruction is genuinely unique and would be impossible to replicate in a traditional camp setting.

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Additionally, all partner agencies provide their programming free of charge, meaning the $1,300 program fee covers the complete Boys & Girls Club Summer Camp experience—not individual program components. This collaborative, community-invested model ensures exceptional value within the broader summer camp framework.

Daily activities vary by which partner agency is leading that day's session. A typical week might include building animal track molds on Monday, participating in a salmon migration obstacle course on Tuesday, meeting live birds of prey on Wednesday, creating worm composting globes on Thursday, and learning about watershed protection on Friday. Each session is hands-on, interactive, and designed to keep students engaged through direct experience rather than lectures or passive learning.

We're actively working toward launching standalone youth programming, but we want to be transparent: this requires significant capacity-building, including hiring a nonprofit development director and securing sustainable funding sources. Rather than provide a specific timeline we can't guarantee, we invite interested families to join our notification list. When we're ready to launch direct programming, you'll be among the first to know—and you'll have early access to enrollment opportunities.

In the meantime, we're committed to helping families access excellent environmental education through our current partnership model.

Yes, Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley offers both payment plans and scholarships for qualifying families. Simply indicate your need for financial assistance when you submit our interest form. Saved By Nature will handle all communication with the appropriate clubhouse director on your behalf to discuss available options and application procedures. We ensure you have full information about assistance options before any payment is required.