S.T.T.E.A.M.ed

Founder's Story

Business Description

WHY WE EXIST

S.T.T.E.A.M.ed exists to address the opportunity gap that students and families experience broadly and especially in the math and science related fields. S.T.T.E.A.M.ed is on a mission to empower children in underrepresented communities by providing them with exceptional learning opportunities. Our commitment to creating optimal learning environments serves as the foundation for life skill development. We will be a program that prepares students with a greater understanding of profound issues through collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving and effective communication skills, so that our students can work, learn and achieve in our ever- changing global community.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Proviso Township comprises 14 different villages that includes almost 150,000 people in western Cook County. While Proviso has tremendous assets and diversity in each village and collectively, it also faces many challenges not present in the neighboring villages in Cook County. For example, the township has a similar high school educational attainment (87.4% vs 88.2%) as the county, but a much lower college (bachelor’s or higher) attainment (31.8% vs. 42.4%). State test results indicate an opportunity for math and science programming. Proviso Township District 209 has an 8.8% SAT math proficiency rate compared to the state average of 26.7%. In science, Proviso has a 20.0% proficiency compared to the state average of 52.5%. It is these differences that S.T.T.E.A.M.ed seeks to address at all grade levels starting with grades 1-5 and growing quickly, but responsibility to include K through 12.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Our S.T.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Trade, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Enrichment Program will provide innovative and comprehensive educational experiences for children aged 6 to 18. Through hands-on activities, creative projects, and engaging lessons, we will foster critical thinking, problem solving skills, and a passion for S.T.T.E.A.M. subjects. We expect our programming to improve school attendance and academic performance, especially in math. In order to get these results, we will closely track and monitor key program data including student attendance, academic progress, and self-efficacy in our program.