STEAM Ahead - Preparing our kids for tomorrow

THANK YOU for your support of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada (BGCC)! Because of you, BGCC is able to help youth across the country achieve their academic goals and receive the support that they need. This article will review the progess of the STEAM Ahead! Program. STEAM Ahead! is a new national education program that couples interdisciplinary STEM education with real-world problem-based learning.

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Our STEAM Ahead! program is literally steaming ahead! As we wrap up the pilot year, we are gratified to see this fundamentally important program expand and grow. STEAM Ahead! is one of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada’s national educational programs that couples interdisciplinary STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education with creative design and real world, problem-based learning.

BGCC launched STEAM Ahead! in response to growing research into the needs of children and youth in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math—and, as per current pedagogy, we’ve expanded the STEM acronym to add an “A,” representing the Arts.

STEAM-focused courses become increasingly important as kids transition into higher education opportunities and the workforce. Let’s Talk Science reports that math and science courses are only compulsory up to Grade 10 (only a few provinces, like Manitoba & Newfoundland require a Grade 12 math credit), although many university programs require certain high school math and science courses as a prerequisite for enrollment.

Other studies show that individuals working in STEM fields are more likely to obtain higher income level jobs and are less likely to experience job loss.

Our STEAM Ahead! program goal is to provide youth with opportunities that focus on mentorship and experiential learning, provide knowledge and skills-based activities and expose youth to career ideas and possibilities in the STEM or STEAM fields.

2015 was a pivotal year as it saw the STEAM Ahead! pilot program launch. The Gamemaker is a software platform that consists of eight tutorials which are used to teach children and youth about customizable, 2-dimensional game design. The Engineering Program used ‘engineering kits’, made from a variety of materials, to teach kids about properties like levers, cranks and propellers.

In its initial year, approximately 250 children and youth from four Clubs in the areas of Vancouver, Halifax, Calgary and Brantford participated in STEAM Ahead! Extensive evaluations regarding program attendance, challenges, implementations and child engagement were conducted. Results clearly showed that participants greatly enjoyed learning new skills and having fun. In the words of participating young people and staff, “It can help you in the future with building things because, in a way, you’re learning how to put something together on your own, without instructions. The program can also help with creativity.” “They can see how tobuild anything and it just gives them a greater sense that they can do these things and get more into the sciences and engineering and stuff. It is great for them.”

Staff also noted that they saw positive impacts on their Club participants: “They were actually into the tutorials, especially our older kids. Just going to the tutorials and seeing the little things, seeing what goes into it, it’s a lot of detail and it takes quite a lot of steps, so they were pretty excited about that and being able to see how to do it from scratch. They said it can be quite a lot of work but it’s pretty cool to see how much work actually goes into it.”

“The students loved this workshop. This was by far their greatest accomplishment and joy in the STEAM program. They looked forward to coming to the tutorial each week and were able to move through the tutorials in a timely manner. It was really rewarding seeing how excited they were about the tutorials by the end of it.”

For 2016, our next steps will be to ensure that the program is even more accessible and simpler to administer. Revised and more developed manuals will be created, with more detailed instructions and directions for Club staff.

We are also excited to announce that the 2016 application period has recently opened and that 10 of our Clubs from across the country will receive grants, plus phone- or web-based training, program kits and materials and resources to run STEAM Ahead with both the Gamemaker and Engineering Program activities.

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Thank you for your support of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada! Because of you, we’re able to help youth like Logan, of the Boys and Girls Club of Brantford, to explore new opportunities in STEM subjects.

Through your financial support, you are making an impact every day in communities across Canada:

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“I like building the kits, especially the challenging ones,” says 13-year-old Logan.

An enthusiastic participant in the Boys and Girls Club’s  STEAM Ahead! program, Logan has never missed a workshop and has a roomful of colourful creations to show for it.

STEAM Ahead! is a recently launched national program of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, in partnership with Fidelity Investments. The program encourages youth to explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fundamentals and includes an artistic (A) component to encourage creativity and innovation.

The weekly engineering program introduces basic scientific and engineering concepts in a fun, interactive way. The Brantford Club also offers simpler STEAM activities for children as young as 5 and an introduction to video game design for older youth.

Logan highlights some of the simple machines he learned how to assemble through the STEAM program, using levers, pulleys and inclined planes.

“The wooden gator and model airplane were the best,” Logan says, as he adjusts a zip line glider to make it go faster. He demonstrates how changing the position of an elastic band makes a propeller car move differently.

“I feel good because I finished building them all, even the hard ones,” Logan adds.

“I like to see how Logan experiments with the finished creations,” says Brantford After School Program Supervisor Sarah McDonald. “He always tries different ways to operate the mechanism and change the way it works. He also coloured and decorated them in a unique way.”

According to Sarah, the hands-on approach of the Club program promotes creativity and experimentation and helps break down learning barriers by emphasizing fun activities in a group context.

The STEAM Ahead! building kits and computer-based game-making software are helping Logan and many other Club members develop STEM skills and knowledge without realizing they are learning, she notes. “They just think they’re having fun.”

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What do you think? Are you interested in more information about how you can support Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada? Please get in touch with me at pwalker@bgccan.com or 1-844-477-7272 x232