We are excited to announce that Wareham Development will make a $1 million donation over 4 years to the Berkeley Public Schools Fund to close the opportunity gap in STEM education for Berkeley students.
This partnership grew from the Schools Fund’s support for STEM pilot programs over the last decade, building toward our collaboration with BUSD’s Career Technical Education Program and Wareham Development to create a continuum of K-12 STEM program opportunities. This “ladder” of programs will serve students from populations historically underrepresented in STEM fields and will open doors to educational and career opportunities for students in high school and beyond.
The Schools Fund and BUSD will match Wareham’s funding and will partner to manage the STEM programming which will be “outside of the school day” for Kindergarten-12th grade.
We are actively seeking additional private donations to help meet this match. Please donate here or contact Erin Rhoades at erinrhoades@berkeley.net.
“I think this camp was really instrumental in encouraging my daughter to pursue STEM subjects, but there’s a need for further encouragement as girls and students of color continue through the years of middle and high school.” — A STEM/Maker Camp Parent
The package of programs, free to families, includes:
- STEM/Maker Summer Camp: Piloted last year, this 4-week summer camp will serve 250 6th-10th graders, plus field trips for campers on weekends during the school year.
- STEM/Maker Summer Mentors: 40 high school students will intern as paid mentors in the middle school STEM/Maker Camp.
- Super Science Saturdays: A weekend STEM enrichment program serving 240 1st-5th graders for 6-week sessions on Saturdays in the fall and spring.
- Winter and Spring Break Camps: STEM exploration activities will be incorporated into existing kindergarten to 5th grade programming during school recess breaks.
- In addition, a STEM/Maker Training Institute will provide ongoing professional development for BUSD’s after school and classroom support staff to work as STEM program instructors for the year-around programming.