Empowering Youth in Leading-Edge Tech

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Despite the rising importance of computer science and engineering in today's job market, the South Los Angeles community faces a stark deficiency in accessible educational avenues for these subjects. STEM-focused, hands-on education is particularly scarce. After providing STEM services for 5 years in Los Angeles, we still encounter youth who have no knowledge of robotics and have never learned how to code. Our mission aims to change this.
In our research we have found that teachers report being too overwhelmed to learn new specialized tech skills. We've learned that schools who offer robotics and coding can only benefit a few students at time. The lack of such programs means students miss out on crucial learning experiences that can inspire interest in technology and engineering fields.
Our program provides practical ways to learn STEM concepts and career readiness. We can empower more students with the skills needed for high-demand careers, ultimately benefiting entire communities.

This project is a comprehensive 3 month workshop (one in fall and another in spring) for students who have limited or no access to high quality, ongoing STEM instruction. This is a program designed to expose students to opportunities in STEM fields, and help them envision their future as a thinker and leader in one of those related fields.
The FOUR major components are:
Comprehensive Weekly Workshops that are relatable: 1 to 2 times per week, students attend interactive workshops designed by a national board certified teacher and proven to be effective at keeping students engaged. Conducted by a POC team with proficiency in robotics and coding, the workshops are student-centered, furnish a complete curriculum, all robotics equipment, and essential programming devices, ensuring students have all they need for an enriching experience.
Students acquire coding skills by autonomously operating robots to complete challenges of varying difficulty.
Pathway to mentorship by professionals in STEM careers: All students in the program meet face to face with industry professionals so they can ask real questions about what a day in the life of a STEM professional is like. They gain insights into diverse engineering roles such as mechanical, electrical, computer science, civil, photonics, software, and more.
Pathway to Competitive Robotics: The program culminates with a fully developed competition experience, complete with entry requirements and presentations skills challenge.

This program will increase the number of youth who will have real hands-on experience with building real robots that can actually be used in every day life. While community members may be aware of self-driving cars, factory robots and robot toys, students will gain a more solid understanding of real life application when they can design, build and program a real working robot. With a successfully run project, LA County will see a diminished gap in access to high quality STEM instruction for underserved areas. Students who previously had no experience with hands-on technology will proudly share and contribute their knowledge. They will be more likely to pursue higher education and more likely to pursue innovative entrepreneurship opportunities. They'll have concrete connections with professionals in STEM fields that would have been unlikely before this project. These youth will be the leaders and change makers to contribute to improving their communities and benefiting LA as a whole.

The impact of the project is measured by data collection. During the project, students are assessed on each new skill presented. After the project, parents and students provide feedback about any knowledge gained. Using this data, we measure student growth and mastery of STEM, coding and programming skills. Through survey questions and feedback collected, we receive information about how much students have learned about engineering and STEM fields which helps inform our program and guides future curriculum. Outcomes are presented on our website and annual reports. The evidence that we are working to address the problem lies in our numbers. Data shows that more students are participating in hands-on robotics each year. More students are learning about the roles of engineers and how to build custom robot machines. More students have active participation in their first local robotics competitions and report an increased interest to pursue more STEM classes.