The Reimagining Education summit was just the start of conversations that are taking place around the country.  A great piece in the Huffington Post by Connie Yowell, director of education grantmaking at the MacArthur Foundation, and Pharrell Williams—singer, rapper, song writer, producer and education advocate—discusses what it’s going to take to create a world where all kids have the opportunity for lifetime success and shares how we can better engage, challenge and motivate youth to become lifelong learners. 

You can also join the conversation at #reimagineed, connect with others interested in connected learning through the National Writing Project’s Educator Innovator, take “A Dive Into Connected Learning” by watching a webinar hosted by Alliance for Educational Excellence, and take part in events and projects through the Summer of Making and Connecting.  Just last week we hosted the first of a three-part webinar series introducing the afterschool field to maker culture as a part of the Summer of Making and Connecting.  Sign up for our newsletter to be one of the first to find out when our next webinar on the maker movement is taking place.

Not only are our FIRST students in Camdenton introduced to STEM concepts, they are able to see the connection between what they're learning in the classroom and the real world beyond.  FIRST gives students answers to questions that sometimes stop them from getting started: “Why do I need to learn science, technology, engineering or math?" and "Why do I need to understand this concept?

The Camdenton 4-H LASER (Laker Afterschool Science Engineering & Robotics) team works closely with technical mentors—expert engineers, fabricators, graphic artists, Web designers and computer programmers.  They work with local business leaders who help them understand all aspects of a business and what it is like to work for a company.  The only way the team can succeed is if everyone works together toward one common goal.  If one team member fails to do his or her job it impacts the success of the team as a whole, just like the real world.

The core values of "gracious professionalism^®" and "coopertition^®" interwoven in FIRST are what the coaches and I, as well as the Camdenton R-III school district, value most.  It is part of the ethos of FIRST; a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others and respects individuals and the community.  With gracious professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions.  Coopertition, or displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition, is built on the idea that teams can and should help and cooperate with each other, even as they compete.  Both of these values become a way of life that carries over into students' daily lives.

The Challenges of Rural Afterschool Programs

Camdenton is a decidedly rural community, but with a few unique aspects.  The population of the town is 3,200, but we have 4,200 K-12 students on campus between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:00 pm daily, because the school district covers 372 square miles.  There is little industry and no big corporations to support the robotics teams.  FIRST was implemented at Camdenton in 2009 with 21 high school members and three adult mentors.  In the four short years since, the program has grown to include an additional 250 students in grades 4-12 and will expand next year with the addition of the Junior FIRST LEGO League program for students in grades 1-3.  The growth is extraordinary, testimony to what the program means to our students, our school and our community.  In fact, the elementary teams are formed using a lottery system, because demand surpasses the school's resources of space, staffing and financing.  With respect to the latter—money—we face a particular challenge rooted in our rural setting: We have to travel to Kansas City or St. Louis to compete (three hours one-way.)

We're fortunate that the Camdenton R-III School District and community have embraced FIRST.  Camdenton Optimist member and STEM Alliance organizer John Albright says that “FIRST has been life-changing for many of the youth that participate in Camdenton’s afterschool program.  One hundred percent of the graduating seniors have gone on to universities and are majoring in STEM-related fields for the last four years!  What an incredible testament to the community, school, mentors and coaches.  Our students are being accepted at some of the most prestigious colleges in the United States because of their involvement with FIRST robotics.”

The Camdenton 4-H LASER teams have to be creative to operate.  With no large corporate sponsorship, the students and mentors rely heavily on 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC) funding to support their STEM efforts.  The team also wrote successful NASA and Boeing grant proposals to help pay competition fees.  Other sponsorship includes local business such as Sakelaris Ford, which sponsors the team’s largest fundraising effort.  Numerous other businesses provide funding, meals, mentors, materials and support. 

In an effort to repay the community for its incredible support of the afterschool program, the FIRST LASER teams from elementary to high school levels give back with service projects each year.  They've raised money for the Joplin Tornado Relief Fund to help Joplin High School form a robotics class after the 2011 F5 tornado destroyed their schools and community; they've also raised money for breast cancer research and to support a Citizens Against Domestic Violence children’s play room.  FIRST encourages teams to become involved with their community and always to leave the world a better place.

Providing opportunities that our students might not otherwise have in a rural area is what FIRST and our other afterschool programs are all about.  We want our youth to have options and the same opportunities that students from urban and metropolitan areas have in regard to STEM careers and exploration.  I want the fifth-grader who said she wants to be an astronaut to still be saying that when she's a high school senior.

There would be a significant reduction of investment in informal STEM education (ISE) if this budget request were to be approved.  Federal science mission agencies—such as NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency—that have invested in ISE and afterschool see a significant reduction if not a complete elimination of their STEM education budgets.  Of particular interest to the afterschool community, NASA’s Summer of Innovation program, which has provided funds to summer and afterschool providers, has been zeroed out.  The National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal Science Learning program also sees a $13.6 million cut below its current level of funding.       

The Smithsonian is a new and surprising partner in STEM education, and the details of the $25 million request for “STEM engagement” are still being worked out.  One of its main roles will likely be to serve as a centralized location for the education resources generated by the various science mission agencies.  According to the budget request:

“The STEM initiative will be coordinated by the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, which will create new online resources and experiences for students that have a measurable impact, align Smithsonian content with learning standards set by the states and create communities of teachers who may use Smithsonian content and tools to customize their own programs.”  

At the Department of Education, the only real new opportunity for ISE lies with the “STEM Innovation Networks,” a new program to help school districts build strategic partnerships with institutions of higher education, museums, businesses, government agencies, etc.  The three pillars for these networks are supposed to be teacher preparation, teacher professional development and ISE.  However, the only required partnership as of right now is between school districts and universities, raising a concern that ISE will (again) not play its rightful role in STEM education reform.

The focus of the other K-12 programs proposed by the department is on teacher recruitment, preparation and professional development—$80 million to prepare 100,000 excellent teachers over the next decade (the "100k in 10" initiative) and $35 million to pilot a new program, the STEM Master Teacher Corps, that would recognize and reward the best and brightest STEM teachers and help them play a leadership role in their schools and communities.  The Effective Teaching and Learning Program (formerly the Math and Science Partnerships Program) will receive $150 million; this program has been mostly used to provide professional development to teachers.

There are still many details to be worked out in this large-scale redesign of STEM education.  While the proposal is worrisome for those of us who strongly believe that ISE should play an integral role in STEM education reform, it is still just a budget request.  The ISE and afterschool community should view it as an opportunity to engage the Administration and Congress in a dialogue about the research base and evidence for building an “ecosystem for learning” that includes afterschool.  Let’s rally to make it clear that young people lose when they can’t participate in innovative engaging afterschool STEM learning opportunities.

Members of NASSA are enthusiasts of all things space—even the club’s name was created in homage to NASA!  Last year, they were able to take a trip to the NASA Glenn Research Center.  The club began five years ago when they couldn’t find afterschool programs that addressed the topics they desired or offered programming as often as they wanted.  Beginning with a water purification challenge, the club then delved into activities from the Deep Earth Academy, which covers ocean drilling science and from NASA Wavelength, an exhaustive database of peer-reviewed Earth and space science resources.  In 2011, the club developed a microgravity experiment for a NASA contest, which earned them the chance to have astronauts perform their winning experiment on the International Space Station (ISS)!

Chicks in Space closely follow the astronauts on the ISS.  Don Pettit is the girls’ favorite astronaut to watch, whose video series “Science off the Sphere” can fill many a lunch break.  Pettit served as inspiration for the Garden of ETON due to his in-flight experiments growing plants.  The humorous Diary of a Space Zucchini chronicles one such microgravity experiment.  The team hoped to build on the challenge of successfully growing plants without the earthly gravitational clues and to develop a sustainable fresh food source to be used on the ISS and in other microgravity environments.

Through their participation in science fairs throughout their elementary school years, along with their experiments in their afterschool club, the girls have become experts in the scientific process, demonstrating truly rigorous research and design skills. For help with some of the high-level science content needed to develop and refine the Garden of ETON, the team has Skyped with experts in the U.S. and overseas.  They’ve been amazed at the willingness of scientists and other professionals to help out!

Ultimately, the Chicks in Space aim to present their findings to the International Space Station and hope that what they’ve developed can contribute to future NASA missions.  The girls find space travel fascinating, believing it will be for the benefit of mankind if we can achieve it on a large scale.  These entrepreneurial scientists have a bright future and the Afterschool Alliance wishes MaryAnn, Lillith and Adia the best of luck at the Spirit of Innovation Challenge!

FIRST® is a not-for-profit organization that inspires young people to become leaders through exciting, hands-on robotics and science challenges held during afterschool hours throughout the school year.  FIRST® offers four programs:

Each year FIRST® offers exciting new scientific challenges and game themes.  An example of one of this year’s challenges is FIRST® LEGO® League’s Senior Solutions project, where teams of up to 10 kids work with mentors, researchers, and engineers to improve the quality of life for seniors by helping them continue to be independent, engaged, and connected in their communities.  Teams research the real-life topic of aging and also compete in robot competitions themed around it.

This summer, to prepare for Senior Solutions, one Massachusetts-based FLL team called the “Brainstormers” developed a suit that helps youth to simulate being a senior citizen, so they could experience how it feels to accomplish everyday tasks as a senior.  The suit, stemming from their research at the MIT AgeLab, hinders sight, hearing, and stability — many faculties that become compromised as we age.  Through this project, the team identified common problems that seniors face, and they are now working on solutions to the barriers that our older generations face.  This is a classic example of how FIRST® creates ideal conditions for learning:  FIRST® teamsinfuse research projects with what kids know best – how to have fun!  Watch this short video, created by the Brainstormers, to see fun-infused learning in action.

Students in other FIRST® programs are working on equally innovative projects, such as:

• Developing an iPhone application that helps NASA engineers test drive the Mars Rover;  
• Building a robotic arm controlled entirely by leg movements that assists the special needs population who have limited use of their upper bodies; and
• Working with doctors to find ways to improve the kidney cooling process during robotic surgical transplants.

Our mission at FIRST® is to help young people transform our culture by pursuing the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and applying what they learn to become the science and technology leaders of tomorrow.  In addition, FIRST® is also about overcoming challenges and becoming adept at critical life skills such as creative problem solving and teamwork — at FIRST®,we call that Gracious Professionalism®— skills that will guide our youth as they head down the path to leadership in pursuit of careers in STEM-related fields.

Afterschool hours offer the perfect opportunity for young people to explore what it is like to collaborate, innovate, succeed, have fun, and even fail in these endeavors.  All of these experiences will better prepare them for the real-world experiences they will face as working adults.  FIRST® programs help guide the next generation to transform our world through innovation and technology.  The need is critical, and the benefits are incredible.

Register your event by Friday, Oct. 12 to get your 10 free posters by Oct. 18.

Light up your Lights On Afterschool celebration with light bulb strobe buttons (our most popular item), or have guests decorate t-shirts with light bulb iron-on transfers.  For every purchase you make, a donation is made to the Afterschool Alliance, so you can have fun AND support afterschool!

We have new resources available on our website for registered events: downloadable event spotlights that can be used to help promote your event to the media and your community.  We hope they help you share your Lights On Afterschool event with even more afterschool advocates!

For even more Lights On Afterschool event tips and planning resources, check out our event planning kit.