On Wednesday, October 7th LSC welcomed over 780 guests for Community Evening. This event included partners from Sanofi and the Association of Science and Technology Centers’ Seeding Action as part of The Air We Share initiative.

The Air We Share programming introduced visitors to how environmental factors like air pollution, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat affect respiratory health. As part of this national partnership, elementary school students submitted original artwork to LSC’s The Air We Share Art on a Sphere Contest. LSC collected over 50 submissions from students, all highlighting how environmental challenges affect human health and actions that make a difference in their communities.

The top five submissions received one-year family membership and had their artwork featured on LSC’s Science on a Sphere, a six-foot spherical visualization globe. Congratulations to our finalists and thank you to all students who entered and shared their creative solutions with us!

Siddharth Barua from Jersey City:

Michael Miller from Staten Island:

Lokamithran Vasanth from Jersey City:

Emily Alba from East Orange:

Vikram Guntupalli from Jersey City:

The Tracks and field stars and mother-daughter duo Joetta and Talitha Diggs joined LSC for a live discussion and meet-and-greet in the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium to discuss the importance of air quality and their experiences as professional athletes.

“Do not have your kids training and doing something if they’re tired,” Joetta said. “Give them the confidence to tell the coaches or teachers that it’s okay for them to stop. A lot of times in sports and in life, you don’t want to stop. You want to push. But I think as a parent, you have to let your kid know it’s okay to stand up for yourself and advocate for yourself.”

Talitha shared how she distinguishes between the normal discomfort of training and knowing when something isn’t right. “If I’m struggling… Is it me just pushing myself or am I going to tip over the limit?”

“If there’s something going on that’s wrong, then go and speak to your coach about it and make them aware,” Talitha said. “It doesn’t mean that you’re giving up or you’re trying to get out of something. You’re really prioritizing your health first.”

Guests also participated in hands-on The Air We Share activities in LSC’s Center for Learning and Teaching. Stations included a VR lung experience and other air quality and respiratory health games.

Special thanks to our generous Community Evening supporters: Sanofi as part of The Air We Share initiative, UBS, and the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation.