Santa Clara science majors lead a free elementary arts education program
It might not seem like it now, but Megan Baldemor ’26 grew up an arts kid. Instead of coding camps and chemistry sets, as a child, the biology major and aspiring Alzheimer’s researcher choreographed dances in her bedroom and crafted pointe shoes out of cardboard and cotton balls.
In high school, she attended a college preparatory school where she spent hours each day preparing for productions like “The Nutcracker.”
“I just couldn’t get enough of it,” Baldemor says. “There was nothing else I wanted to do.”
It wasn’t until college that the beauty of science clicked. During her first quarter at Santa Clara, Baldemor took a class called Physics of Dance, where Professors David J. Popalisky and Rich Barber broke down her pirouette and explained why she faltered with certain moves.
“That made me realize that science is everywhere,” Baldemor says. “It really inspired me to pursue science further in college.”
While Baldemor decided to study biology and pursue a career as a physician scientist, she says the arts still inform her work today. Not only does she still dance at Santa Clara, but she also notices her creativity helping her design research projects.
“I used to think that my interest in different things made me look distracted or confused. Santa Clara showed me it’s actually a good thing,” Baldemor says. “The arts taught me perseverance, critical thinking, and creativity. I don’t think I would be the person that I am today without all of the artsy stuff I did as a kid.”
Today, Baldemor is working to pay forward the benefit of an arts education to the next generation. With arts programs across the country facing budget cuts each year, Baldemor teamed up with another artist-turned-scientist, chemistry major Jasmine Vu ’26, to look for a way to support arts education locally.
Building off a volunteer tutoring experience Vu had at Kathryn Hughes Elementary School, the two Santa Clara students founded Santa Clara Kids ARTopia last winter. Funded by a $15,000 grant from the Donald A. Strauss Scholarship Foundation, the program offers free arts programming and supplies for local elementary school students who might not otherwise have access.
Megan Baldemor ’26 (left) and Jasmine Vu ’26 encourage young people to avoid the “crazy grind” of overspecialization and instead explore a well-rounded education.
The program offers three different tracks for students, with Vu teaching traditional and digital art and Baldemor leading performing arts. Classes are held in collaboration with after-school and summer programming to help working parents who struggle to afford child care.
Vu, who grew up exploring her creativity through crocheting and filmmaking, says it’s important for young people in a tech-forward region like Silicon Valley to engage with a variety of skills. While the program is focused on the arts, Vu helps students find balance and make connections between different areas of study. For example, in the digital arts classes, Vu discusses coding and explains how the two disciplines work together.
“We don’t want these kids thinking they need to be on this crazy grind, where you can only be an artist or only be in STEM,” Vu says. “You don’t have to choose. It’s important to be a well-rounded person.”
After serving about 100 kids last spring and summer, the program expanded this fall thanks to Santa Clara University. Partnering with the Arrupe Engagement program in the Ignatian Center, volunteers now get class credit. This has helped formalize the program and provide training for volunteers so they’re prepared and offering a cohesive mentorship experience.
The relationship with the Ignatian Center also gives the program more long-term stability. Both Baldemor and Vu plan to pursue careers in medicine after college and are looking to pass leadership of the program on to other Santa Clara students.
“We just want to keep this program growing,” Baldemor says. “We don’t see an endpoint. We just want to keep making it better.”
