One Saturday a month throughout the school year, hundreds of elementary school students dressed in white lab coats file into science laboratories at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and explore topics that range from DNA sequencing to forensic science.

The classes, funded in part by grants, are part of a program created three years ago by science professor Ania Wieczorek, who wants to spark a love for science in the upcoming generation.

The Saturday GENE-ius program started off in 2012 with 59 mostly public elementary school students. The popularity of the program’s hands-on experiments and activities grew by word of mouth — Wieczorek says each class needs to have a "wow factor" — and now accommodates 360 students in first through sixth grades.

Wieczorek and her staff recently piloted a curriculum for students in seventh and eighth grades, and plan to launch a summer program for high school grades next year.

"My big mission is for them to learn science without really knowing that they’re learning," Wieczorek said in an interview at her lab. "I want them to have so much fun, but learn at the same time. The excitement that you see on these kids’ faces, it’s priceless. It is really hard work to do this, but if a kid comes to me and says, ‘I want to be a scientist now,’ this is all worth it."

Wieczorek, 45, said she believes some of these students will someday be tapped to help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges, like climate change, food sustainability and energy. (For her part, Wieczorek’s work as a molecular ecologist focuses on invasive species.)

"I think we’re going to need as many scientists as possible to sort things out," she said. "In Hawaii, because we are isolated, I feel like sometimes the kids don’t have as many opportunities as kids on the mainland. So giving them that opportunity to come and explore science, I think, is very, very important. At least they’ll get a chance to try."

The inspiration for the program stemmed in part from an unintended insult from a friend’s teenage daughter.

"I asked her, ‘What are you going to take next year?’ and she said, ‘Science.’ I said, ‘How exciting!’" Wieczorek recalled. "But she said, ‘No, I hate science.’ And I felt like someone had kicked me in my stomach."

Soon after, Wieczorek was asked to organize a half-day school field trip to her UH lab for her daughter’s elementary class.

"I prepared four hands-on activities — and it took me months to prepare it for 40 little kids," she said. "But it was such a success because they didn’t want to leave after. So I thought, why don’t I try to get all the schools interested in this?"

That was in 2008. It led to the creation of a field trip program that Wieczorek still runs every two weeks throughout the school year for elementary students.

Early on, when the field trip program could accommodate only a handful of schools, she would get calls from parents asking if she did birthday parties.

Last year, some 1,600 students from more than two dozen public and private schools took a field trip to Wieczorek’s lab, and more than 8,200 students have participated to date.

"But, I thought, one field trip is not enough to hook them on science," she said. "I wanted them to learn more."

The Saturday GENE-ius program started in 2012 as a two-hour workshop, which Wieczorek said would fill up almost instantly. The program has since evolved into a full-year program of nine monthly classes, with titles like "DNA Detectives," "CSI For A Day" and "You Are What You Eat."

"Now the kids come once a month, every month during the school year," she said.

Wieczorek alternates between two sets of curricula but hopes to eventually create enough lessons to run throughout a student’s years in grade school.

Perry White attended the program for the last two years with his grandson Luka and will be attending this year with his younger grandson Cassius. (Students in first through third grades require a chaperone.)

"They’ve created a really interesting thing," White said. "They have kids doing stuff that they usually wouldn’t have an opportunity to do, and doing it at a younger age than they would have an opportunity to do."

He added: "Because there’s a lot of experiments that go on, it’s a really nice way for kids to get exposed to having to test things on their own. The way they run it is the kids sort of get to and have to speak out, but it’s been done in a very kind way. … As a result, when a question is asked, a lot of hands go up."

A team of 18, including high school interns, graduate students and Wieczorek’s staff, puts on the program. Funding comes in part from Wieczorek’s college, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, as well as federal grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation. Parents also pay a fee, which amounts to $21 per class.

"It would be nice if it was all free," White said, but added, "You could not go anyplace and get a better deal. And if you paid market value, you would be paying several times what they charge."

For the past two years, seats for the yearlong course were filled within hours of registration opening. Wieczorek has expanded this year’s program to accommodate additional students.

Register by Aug. 17 at www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/geneius-day. Classes start Sept. 5.