Since 2017, Shoulder to Shoulder has been working to enhance student retention and build employment skills based on hands-on exposure with Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). In September 2024, we received a grant from the US Embassy which will allow us to build a more robust STEM support system and scale our proven programs to reach more students. One requirement of the grant is that we raise MATCHING funds.
In Honduras, like most Latin countries, education consists of teachers writing lessons on the board with students copying and memorizing them for the test. Half of all rural students drop out of school after 6th grade. They have little real world knowledge or skills and are then a poor fit for meaningful jobs. This project will increase the practical and creative skills of over 700 students from 17 municipalities in the department of Intibuca.
This project will give students job qualifying, and hands-on experience, in designing and building functioning robots and other useful objects using state-of-the-art equipment. These include Computer Aided Design (CAD), 3D printers, and basic machine tools. In addition to learning technical skills, students are encouraged to develop commercial concepts and bring them to life. Students use the 3D printers to make custom items and sell them to people in the community.
This project will continue to build and strengthen our Community Engagement Model, which engages schools, the community, and the mayors. The mayors are the key to discretionary funding for schools. Honduras is one of the countries sending the most irregular immigration to the US. Getting more children to stay in school longer and learn skills that will enable them to get jobs increases the chance that they will stay and help develop Honduras.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
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