What’s in store for STEAM gem Whitaker Center in Harrisburg?

New Whitaker President Mary Oliveira with her vision

• Scott LaMar
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

Aired; February 20th, 2024.

The Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg is approaching its 25th anniversary. The Whitaker Center is a jewel of downtown Harrisburg and the region for families, children, students and adults to view and engage in science, movies and shows. It may be the premiere stop for “hands on” science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics or STEAM in Central Pennsylvania.

Mary Oliveira, President and CEO of the Whitaker Center for Science ans the Arts

Mary Oliveira is the President and CEO of Whitaker Center and joined us on The Spark Wednesday where she said the Whitaker Center is still re-emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and wants Whitaker to be a Central Pennsylvania destination.

One of the unique aspects of the Whitaker Center is so many of the exhibits and programs are interactive, which Oliveira characterized as important,”People learn in a variety of ways — whether it’s hearing, reading, seeing and doing kind of combines all of that. For us, interactive and immersive stands out as a way that allows the parent and the child to do it together. That allows our professional educators to really see what they’re teaching be executed. We start curriculum as early as three-years-old with our little learners on Wednesday mornings. And so teaching is one thing, but being taught back because of what they’re showing and doing themselves is really a way to ensure that those lessons are being deeply embedded.”

The Whitaker Center is a popular destination for schools to take field trips as Oliveira noted,”I think it’s really more about the environment that they’re immersed in. When they’re at Whitaker. Again, they’re not sitting at a desk. They’re not sitting in front of a laptop or a computer. They’re really able to move around at their own pace and guide themselves as well. And some of that capability of being able to learn on their own and self teach as they go through all of our different stations, I think, imposes a a level of enjoyment and ownership to what they’re experiencing there versus being drilled to by a teacher or an educator at Whitaker.”