If you grew up watching shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy or ZOOM, you might see echoes of both in Curious Crew. The show, a WKAR original, spent the last decade encouraging kids to explore science through hands on experiments.
At the heart of the show is Rob Stephenson, known on the show as “Dr. Rob.”
Outside the show, Stephenson is an educator with experience as a teacher, principal and trainer. He said the idea for Curious Crew came about after he was asked to present at a literacy event.
"I came dressed up as this character that I made up called Magneto man, and did some singing and dancing and crazy science investigations,” he said.
He said two WKAR staff members happened to be in the audience and saw the potential and later Curious Crew was born. Ten seasons and 15 regional Emmy Awards later, Stephenson said for him the mission has always felt more than just a show.
“That sense of wonder is something we all have as kids, but too often we let it go,” Stephenson said. “I try to inspire that feeling in everyone, so they’re motivated to enjoy learning new things and interact with the world around them.”
Over the years, more than 250 young cast members, many from Mid-Michigan, have appeared on the show. And some grew up on the show.
“It’s very cool that my childhood is kind of documented on Curious Crew,” Woo said.
Janellyn Woo, joined the cast at age just 9-years-old. She stayed on for nearly a decade and is now a University of Michigan student studying user-experience design. Woo said while she’s sad the show that captured much of her youth is ending, she’s grateful for Dr. Rob’s mentorship.
“He just always believed in whatever we wanted to try or whatever we felt like we could push ourselves in,” she said.
Tauren Del Rio, another Curious Crew alum, had similar praise for Stephenson and the show's impact on her life.
"[Stephenson] inspired all of us and made us all comfortable. And
he obviously really enjoyed doing the show and being on the show, and it made us also enjoy doing the show as well," she said.
Del Rio is studying social work at New York University. She was on the show for about five years. She said being on experience left her with a passion for being on screen, something she still tries to make time for.
"I always jump at the opportunities to try and do things here at NYU, the opportunities that are given out aren't just for students in in acting or drama. They're always looking for anybody that's willing to work with photography students...film students are looking for actors and they they want people to be on set with them," she said.
At the helm of Curious Crew's final season is WKAR senior producer Nicole Zaremba. She hopes the show continues to spark curiosity long after the last episode airs.
“I think science can be intimidating sometimes. And encouraging questions, like it's okay to ask questions. And sometimes we feel like, especially in school, when we raise our hand...that that was something I needed to have the answer. But I think it's more important to have the question than the answer, because that's where the real learning starts,” she said.
Zaremba said this season's message is about how science shows up everywhere in everyday life and that curiosity connects us to everything we do.
Curious Crew airs Saturday mornings at 10:30 on WKAR-TV.