As part of the Perot Museum of Science and Nature's 10th-anniversary celebration, former Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitzki joined kids in working at a STEM event Tuesday. Nowitzki and his wife, Jessica, are co-chairs of the museum's 10th anniversary.
Tuesday, kids from Dallas ISD's Zumwalt Middle School were brought to the museum to participate in basketball-themed STEM projects. Students could build a "mini pop-a-shot" game, build a basketball launcher and design their own athletic shoes.
"This is amazing to see the kids who have dreams and have innovative ideas," Nowitzki said.
Nowitzki said he and his wife support the museum's work to reach out to children from different backgrounds and show them what is possible.
"Somebody earlier said, 'You can't do this. You can't do this.' I told him don't ever say that. Anything is possible. You can do anything with dreams and, obviously, hard work and the right resources," Nowitzki said.
Nowitzki said his own story can show kids the results of hard work.
"Nobody thought I could do it, coming out of Germany and making it in the NBA," Nowitzki said. "I believed in it, and I followed my dream."
"It was an honor. It was amazing meeting him. We shot hoops, then talking to him about how big his shoe is, it was cool," said Dalynn Hudspeth, a student at Zumwalt.
The Perot Museum set up its "TECH Trucks" outside the museum. The trucks are used to "drive innovative learning activities into communities to help bridge STEM learning gaps."
"STEM is all around us. It's hard to avoid," said Chief Learning Officer Jessica Chavez. "We're really making those connections with something students are happy to engage with and then showing them there are pathways to pursue that are fun and engaging with science."
Chavez says launching a child's interest in science at a young age will drive that curiosity long-term.
"It's all about sparking those 'ah ha moments' and making connections to STEM and career pathways," Chavez said. "We're here celebrating the science of basketball with engaging activities where we're learning about scale, proportion and angle all while having fun and learning."
This was the third of ten "key community impact moments" planned this year to mark the Perot Museum's tenth anniversary.
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