On Wednesday (Jul. 15), Senator Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, announced the St. Louis Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science (YES) program has been approved for $241,328 in tax credits through the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Youth Opportunities Program.
The Science Center’s Youth Exploring Science program provides education and outreach to 200 at-risk youth from low-income, high crime neighborhoods throughout the City of St. Louis. The program is designed to enhance school curricula, increase student retention rates, promote graduation rates, increase college or vocational school enrollment and encourage workforce development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“I am very pleased the Science Center will receive these tax credits to support this worthwhile educational program that benefits our city youth,” Sen. Smith said.
The Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) is designed to broaden and strengthen opportunities for positive development and participation in community life for youth and to get local, neighborhood, and community businesses involved in helping to find solutions to problems concerning youth in their communities. Tax credits are allocated to organizations administering positive youth development or crime prevention projects that have been approved through an application process. Approved organizations then secure contributions from their community, and the contributor receives tax credits for those contributions.