Alex Tarika first joined the Aspen Science Center (ASC) as a member of the education staff in February 2024. She came from a background in classroom science education, having taught at Aspen Middle School from 2018 to 2022 and Carbondale Community School from 2022 to 2023. When Tarika joined ASC as a new mom, she quickly moved into the education manager role. In October, she stepped up to become the nonprofit’s next executive director.
Tarika is passionate about science education, and sees her teaching background as an advantage for increasing community access to ASC programs. “Knowledge of the education landscape and my connections with our local schools give me a unique understanding in this role,” she told The Sopris Sun.
Last year was a significant one for ASC programs. Tarika shared several highlights, most of which demonstrate the organization’s reach throughout the Valley.
- K-12 school programs grew: ASC delivered 130 programs for 15 different schools, impacting over 3,000 students from Aspen to Glenwood Springs.
- Monthly STEM Exploration Hour programs continued at each of the eight libraries from Aspen to Parachute, impacting 850+ children and their families or caregivers.
- ASC increased Spanish-language and bilingual program offerings at schools and libraries, including a bi-monthly Ciencia en Comunidad program offered at each of the six Garfield County libraries.
- Approximately 15% of the people who attended ASC programs were native Spanish-speakers, up from less than 5% in 2024.
- Continued to offer weekly Snowmass Ice Age Discovery Tours, thanks to a multi-year partnership with the Town of Snowmass Village and Limelight Hotel. In total, 32 tours were delivered for 300 children and adults.
- ASC hired 12 high school and college-aged youth as paid summer intern educators.
- Launched a year-long paid Community STEM Leaders Internship program. Sixteen youth, from Aspen to Parachute, are developing and delivering STEM programs in their communities.
- Offered 28 hands-on, week-long STEM summer camps, from Aspen to Rifle, providing 391 children ages 3 to 13 the opportunity to dive deep into exploring STEM topics.
Tarika and ASC staff plan to expand upon those achievements this year. One goal is to continue developing “Early STEM” programming with preschools and home childcare providers. Others include growing K-12 programs by offering more field trips and classroom sessions for each of the four school districts ASC serves (Aspen, Roaring Fork, Re-2, Garfield 16), as well as independent schools in the region. The organization is also increasing its summer camp programming to offer 38 activities between Aspen and Silt.
Tarika said that ASC aims to increase cross-language programs. ASC wants to “increase our capacity to offer culturally-relevant, bilingual and Spanish-language programs, to better serve the significant Spanish-speaking communities of the greater Roaring Fork region,” she explained. Other goals include building a series of panel-format programs for adults and increasing technology offerings like afterschool robotics for youth and tech courses for adults.
“Science is all around us and is critical to the progression of society and humanity,” Tarika said. “Our programs are designed to spark curiosity, build confidence and make learning science feel accessible and fun. When I say it’s all around us, I mean we’re using science knowledge to understand our health, fix our cars, grow our food, cook our meals, understand our natural environment, design our infrastructure, program our computers, solve problems associated with climate change — I could go on and on!”
Tarika continued by specifying skills that children and adults alike can build through science study. “Learning and being able to speak science language at any level opens doors, builds confidence and empowers people to make informed decisions for themselves. From a more soft skills side of things, STEM learning involves essential skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication and leadership; people who engage in our programs are pushed to use and practice each of these.”
ASC celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. The organization was founded in 2005 by George Stranahan “and a group of science education-oriented individuals,” Tarika said. The nonprofit moved into its current Discovery Center space in Carbondale’s Third Street Center in 2019. According to Tarika, the midvalley location is an advantage. “[It] positions us really well to be able to travel efficiently to each community we serve, from Aspen to Parachute. This strategy of delivering programs directly in each community not only increases the accessibility of our programs, but helps us connect more authentically with people in these communities.”