Engineering Adventures Expanding Throughout Eastern Massachusetts

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Engineering is Elementary will soon be able to bring the Engineering Adventures curriculum to more after school programs across Eastern Massachusetts thanks to support from the members of SheGives. This expansion of the Engineering Adventures program will help to fund  50 after school and camp programs, reaching 750 new students. Communities targeted to receive the curriculum include highly urbanized areas such as Lawrence, Chelsea, and Lynn. Focusing on these communities for after school programs will help to close the opportunity gap for groups, including minorities and women, that are often underrepresented in STEM subjects.

Research has shown that programs such as EA, that teach engineering and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) at an early age are extremely beneficial to students. STEM education teaches students essential skills and confidence applicable to any field they in which may become interested, in engineering and other fields.

Students who are not considered traditionally smart in the classroom are helped to feel smart and capable through hands-on learning with engineering activities. Heidi Karlone, in association with MoS: Engineering is Elementary, has researched the effects of engineering education on young students and has found that engineering activities help students to gain confidence, learn from mistakes, and become leaders. Engineering also helps students to gain team-working skills in which they work with each other’s strengths to reach a common goal.

Engineering Adventures works with this research to bring the best possible program to students and educators, especially those in underserved neighborhoods. The program is designed to engage students by creating real-world scenarios based on real issues in which students can actively work to find solutions that will help a community. The program is also designed to be inexpensive, so as to be accessible to the greatest number of students. You can learn more about this news in the Engineering is Elementary August newsletter.

SheGives connects committed, inquisitive, engaged donors with a slate of diligenced nonprofits in the Greater Boston area. We provide members with relevant data about the nonprofits in our portfolio and an opportunity to meet directly with our nonprofits’ Executive Directors and senior staff in small settings that promote in-depth q&a’s and, ultimately, informed giving. Giving is personally driven, but because we give side-by-side our collective impact is greater. See a list of the vetted nonprofits selected for our slate here.