The following slideshow makes the case for why programs like LiveS.T.R.E.A.M. are needed at Deburgos & urban middle schools across the country: LiveS.T.R.E.A.M.
I was fortunate enough to be one of only two people to attend School District of Philadelphia Partners in Funding Workshop. Able to monopolize their time, the speakers spoke to me at length about why promoting STEM is a must, how to garner funds, and why many schools fail to get repeat funding. We discussed what the ideal "pitch" to funders should address, organizing/ synergy, & future considerations. The LiveS.T.R.E.A.M. presentation is the result. Thus far it has yielded grants from UPENN FLL & DonorsChoice to initiate FIRST robotics teams, and 3 adult volunteers.
Over the past two years, I have volunteered or worked for MESA, Stemnasium Learning Academy, and attended numerous workshops and webinars to learn programs/curriculum such as A.L.I.C.E., L.A.S.S.O., Bootstrap, Robot C, & App Inventor in order to present STEM content not only in multiple ways but as observable behaviors/actions rather than abstract vocabulary.
In order to promote STEM and seed a college prep pipeline, LiveS.T.R.E.A.M. the Deburgos STEM After school club is participating in the First Lego League World Class Tournament & implementing its online curriculum to teach core values, build/program robots, and perhaps most importantly create solutions for a real world problem.
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UPENN FLL trains STEM teachers and others to become coaches for LEGO Robotics programs that both expose and immerse children in the engineering design process and computer programming and include hands-on, team building exercises that focus on core values as well as STEM. They are also offering a FLL in the City Grant to our new team that will cover registration, LEGO EV3 robot, field set, and tournament registration.
https://alliance.seas.upenn.edu/~pennfll/wiki/index.php?n=PennFLL.PizzaAndBotsMentoringSessions Because we need to focus on robotics and not have children hungry, Brown's Superstores & The Fox Street ShopRite have graciously donated fruit/ granola bars, chips, & water for 60 students per month. |
At the FLL Aspira Qualifier Tournament we impressed the judges by competing in all 3 phases - project presentation, core values, & robot design - despite having only 2 team members show up. This apparently happens to many 1st year teams, but we did OK without the team strategists & programmers and posted a high score of 60 in the robot games, scored 115 points but lost 25 to penalties for a final tally of 90 points. We placed 8th out of 14 teams and just missed the cutoff for the State Playoffs. It's only the beginning.