Solution Overview

Solution Name:

STEM Skool, Inc.

One-line solution summary:

Engaging and culturally-relevant K-12th grade programs designed to increase achievement and diversity in STEM.

Pitch your solution.

A solid academic background in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) not only enhances 21st century skill development across all disciplines but also prepares students for sustainable tech careers.

However, few students in the US actually receive an adequate STEM education. Approximately 70% of US students lack proficiency in mathematics and science. The pandemic has only exacerbated inequalities in health, education, and employment, for minority and low-income students.

STEM Skool’s mission is to improve access to quality STEM education for K-12th graders. We aim to increase interest, proficiency and diversity in STEM through three flagship programs: STEM Skool Micro School, the Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program, and Design Thinking Workshops for STEM Educators.

Scaled globally, our programs could help students enrolled in schools with low proficiency scores and limited access to technology to achieve more desirable outcomes in science and math while also driving workforce development towards sustainable STEM careers.

Film your elevator pitch.

What specific problem are you solving?

Access to quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education enhances 21st century skills development across all disciplines and affords the future workforce the strong scientific and mathematical background needed to address a dire shortage of tech talent in the US (National Science and Technology Council, 2018). However, despite the many benefits of a quality STEM education, approximately 70% (36 million) US students lack science and mathematics proficiency.

According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report card, only 41% of 4th graders, 34% of 8th graders, and 25% of 12th graders perform at or above proficiency in math. Only 38% of 4th graders, 34% of 8th graders, and 22% of 12th graders are proficient in science.

Disparities are especially prevalent among minority and low-income students. According to a June, 2020 UN News article, the pandemic has exacerbated “pre-existing inequalities in health, education, employment and endemic racial discrimination.”

While there are no gender disparities in proficiency scores at the grade school level, women are grossly underrepresented in STEM.

Reasons behind low math and science achievement include lack of qualified educators, unengaging curricula, inadequate learning facilities, and limited access to technology (Ejiwale, 2013).

Minorities in STEM Infographic
Poor Education and Lack of Encouragement Are Major Reasons Why African Americans and Hispanics Are Underrepresented in STEM Fields


What is your solution?

Our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education. We create engaging, culturally-relevant, Next Generation Science Standards-aligned programs designed to spark interest, improve proficiency and increase diversity in science and engineering, including:

1) STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that offers online and in-person enrollment options for kindergarten-8th graders. We host three 9-week sessions per year. Past sessions include: “Agricultural Engineering from Mesopotamia to Modern Times” and “Zoology and the Himalayas.”

2) Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Next school year, we will be partnering with local schools to deliver customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to solve engineering design challenges within their communities, receive mentorship from professional engineers, and explore STEM careers.

3) Design Thinking for STEM Educators: Our student-centered, culturally-relevant approach gets students excited about science and engineering, enhances 21st century skills development and introduces students to STEM careers. We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to use design thinking to create similar programs in their own schools.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our solution serves the nearly 36 million K-12th grade US public school students who lack proficiency in math and science education and exposure to quality learning experiences.

Our solution also serves schools, after-school program providers and STEM educators who need training and ongoing support to adapt their pedagogy, facilitate personalized instruction, and communicate with students and their families in remote and hybrid settings.

We approached this challenge with a design thinking mindset. Before we identified the specific problem, we conducted one-on-one interviews with teachers, school administrators, guidance counselors, media specialists, parents, and students to understand and gain empathy for their perspectives on teaching and learning during the pandemic.

We invested a huge amount of effort into listening to our users’ needs, motivations and frustrations, and we regularly returned to them for feedback over the course of this application process.

After conducting interviews, we created a detailed list of needs statements and identified first tier, second tier and latent needs.

Finally, we created a detailed design document containing our customer needs statement, user personas, needs decomposition, and solution conceptualization. 

Please find our needs decomposition and two of our user personas below:

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You may view our complete design document here.

Through our analysis, we identified the following key stakeholders:

  • Students (K-12): Primarily minority and low-Income public school students who lack access to a quality STEM education and who demonstrate low proficiency in science and mathematics;

  • Parents: Have a vested interest in seeing their students succeed; also responsible for seeing to it that students are having their basic needs met, attend school regularly, complete homework assignments, and receive positive messaging about education and future careers at home;

  • Teachers: Oftentimes function as the gatekeepers of formal education; need training programs to learn how to successfully implement STEM curricula to professional development; will need to be intrinsically motivated to participate in training; training must clearly link to personal and professional goals.

  • Administrators: Accountable for student and school performance on proficiency exams; motivated to have math and science proficiency scores increase; in control of the school budget and community partnerships; must be shown how and why our programs would benefit their students.

  • Universities: Have a vested interest in recruiting, retaining and graduating a diverse and academically successful student body; connected to research opportunities, jobs, and internships; many professors are willing to help students get up to speed in their math and science courses.

  • STEM Employers: Are having a hard time finding qualified candidates for STEM job openings in science, engineering, medicine, and technology; concerned about the future workforce and willing to invest time, energy and money in quality STEM education that promise future well-trained employees.

Our solution takes into consideration the needs of all of these stakeholders. While we understand that STEM curricula must be hands-on, engaging and culturally-relevant for students, we also know that teachers and administrators need to feel like our programs are worthwhile and produce results.

Both educators and parents also need to feel like our programs are convenient and economical as they are resistant to being stretched too far outside of their comfort zones and budgets.

Through our interviews, we discovered that most educators are inundated with curriculums, apps, textbooks, and software platforms. Many of them feel overwhelmed and pulled in many directions. We do not want to present a solution that elicits a negative response or simply goes unused/underused because it is an inconvenience. 

Finally, universities and STEM employers, as we have discovered through our interviews and in practice, are extremely excited about the hope and promise that surrounds young people. They are highly motivated to offer resources and mentorship.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Provide tools and opportunities for equitable access to jobs, credit, and generational wealth creation in communities of color.

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

The pandemic has only exacerbated pre-existing disparities in education for African American, LatinX, and Native American students, who generally score lower than their white counterparts on math and science proficiency exams.

As educators, we are challenged to deliver hands-on, engaging and culturally-relevant curricula that not only increase proficiency in math and science but also spark interest in engineering, technology and innovation.

STEM Skool works to tackle inadequacies in K-12th grade education, particularly along racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic lines. We are working to ensure that all students are given tools and opportunities for equitable access to STEM careers.

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Charlotte, NC, USA

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

We founded STEM Skool, Inc. in 2016, initially, as an organization that facilitated natured-based preschool classes in Charlotte, NC. However, we immediately saw an opportunity to create similar programming for grade school students, particularly those who do not traditionally have access to quality STEM education.

In 2017, we began teaching the Engineering is Elementary curriculum, developed by the Museum of Science, Boston. We started with a single class of 7 elementary students.

The program quickly gained popularity, and, by the beginning of the 2019 school year, we were hosting approximately 50 kindergarten-8th grade students in our engineering, global studies and Spanish immersion classes. We also began writing our own curriculum.

During the pandemic, we have had national and international students enroll in our online classes. Our in-person classes are currently filled to capacity, and we are poised for expansion to other schools and afterschool programs in our community and beyond.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

GeAndra "Ge" Imoudu, Founder & Executive Director

More About Your Solution

Which of the following categories best describes your solution?

A new application of an existing technology

What makes your solution innovative?

We believe that STEM Skool is an innovation powerhouse not only because of our cutting-edge programs but also because of the process through which we create them.

Our lead facilitators, Ge Imoudu (Science and Engineering) and Christine Tran (Global Studies) share the belief that engineering happens against historical, cultural, political, and geographical backdrops. They have worked together to create inventive cross-curricular units like “Agricultural Engineering from Mesopotamia to Modern Times” and “Zoology and the Himalayas.”

Secondly, while our organization was initially founded to solve the needs of a single community, we know that our community’s challenges and the unique combination of tools, resources and methodologies we use to solve them cannot be packaged and sold to underserved students everywhere.

We offer more than just another boxed curriculum, app, or piece of equipment that delivers content. Our user research revealed that teachers are not lacking access to any of those.

Educators spend so much time pivoting and adapting - oftentimes without realizing that they are user experience designers by another name. 

Through our Design Thinking for STEM Educators workshops, we teach the innovation process and create a nurturing environment where teachers and community leaders can design solutions that are customized for their unique classrooms and communities.

Finally, an additional innovation of our solution is that it allows our organization to achieve financial sustainability. Offering workshops, consulting services, lectures, and keynotes that teach our process would allow us to generate income in the process of furthering our cause.

Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:

  • Audiovisual Media
  • Software and Mobile Applications

Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?

  • 4. Quality Education
  • 5. Gender Equality
  • 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • 10. Reduced Inequality

Select the key characteristics of your target population.

  • Women & Girls
  • Children & Adolescents
  • Rural
  • Peri-Urban
  • Urban
  • Poor
  • Low-Income
  • Middle-Income
  • Minorities & Previously Excluded Populations

In which states / US territories will you be operating within the next year?

  • North Carolina

In which states / US territories do you currently operate?

  • North Carolina

How many people does your solution currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?

Current number of people served: Through our micro school programs and specialized workshops, we serve approximately 100 students and teachers per year. We were very fortunate to experience growth and expansion during the pandemic as moving our program entirely online expanded our reach. We not only increased our class sizes but also forged new relationships with community partners with whom meeting virtually, surprisingly, fostered stronger connections and information sharing.

One-year projection: We are excited to get back to in-person learning this upcoming school year. We have increased enrollment capacity in our micro school program by 67% and will continue to offer online classes and workshops to K-12th grade students. We are in current talks with local charter schools and community programs with whom we would like to launch our new after-school program. We anticipate serving 150-200 students in the upcoming school year. Additionally, we hope to reach at least 200 educators enrolled in our design thinking programs either as individuals or in groups. In total, we are planning to serve at least 400 students and teachers in the upcoming school year.

Five-year projection: By the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, we hope to have captured 5% of the North Carolina public school population (approximately 78,000 students and teachers). At the 5-year mark, we hope to be able to reach 5% of US public schools in need of quality STEM education programming (approximately 1.8 million students and teachers).

How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?

Our mission is in alignment with the UN's Quality Education Goal and its associated targets, particularly:

  • Substantially increasing the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills;

  • Eliminating gender disparities in education and ensuring equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable;

  • Ensuring that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity; and

  • Substantially increasing the supply of qualified teachers.

Steps we will use to measure impact:

  1. Identify the outcomes that students need to achieve. This has to be done on a school-by-school basis, using a design thinking approach. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

  2. Establish a relevant and reliable baseline of student capability in relation to set outcomes. We are able to do this with pre-tests that assess math and science proficiency and attitudes towards STEM careers.

  3. Plan a logical (and evidence-based) intervention for teacher behavior. Properly trained and fully supported teachers and program facilitators are essential to the successful implementation of STEM education programs.

  4. Execute and evaluate the planned intervention. Over the course of each school year, we conduct formative and summative assessments to see if our programs are actually working, what we should keep and what needs to change.

  5. Conduct post-test of student progress towards the outcome.

  6. Compare pre- and post-test data to determine teacher impact.

Adapted from How to Use Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria (David Gosling and Jenny Moon, SEEC, 2002)

About Your Team

What type of organization is your solution team?

Nonprofit

How many people work on your solution team?

Our solutions team consists of the following members:

  • Full-time Staff (1): Founder/Executive Director/Science and Engineering Facilitator.

  • Part-Time Staff (1): Global Studies Facilitator.

  • Volunteer Program Advisors (3): Chemical Engineer and Plant Manager with Cargill, Inc.; Civil Engineering Professor at UNC Charlotte; Software Engineer and Product Manager with LogMeIn.

How long have you been working on your solution?

4.5 years.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

The STEM Skool team is a dynamic and robust group of engineers, scientists, educators, and community leaders who are firmly committed to our mission of ensuring that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education.

Founder and Science and Engineering Facilitator, GeAndra “Ge” Imoudu is a New Orleans, Louisiana native with a B.S. in Science, Technology and Society from Stanford University, M.S. in Engineering from Tulane University, certificate in Design Thinking from MIT Sloan School of Management, and MicroMasters in Instructional Design and Technology from the University of Maryland.

Ge was an engineering project manager for 10 years before facilitating fun and engaging STEM  education programs across the Carolinas. She enjoys creating student-centered curricula and is personally acquainted with the full spectrum of challenges facing women and minorities in engineering.

Our Global Studies Facilitator, Christine Tran, holds a B.A. in History, M.A. in Political Science/International Relations and M.L.I.S., Library & Information Science. She discovered her love of instruction while teaching information literacy at a local university. For the past 10 years, she’s shared her passion for geography, history, and reading with groups of delightfully curious students.

Our volunteer program advisors include Ratna Singh, a senior software engineer, product manager and design thinker; Dr. Brett Tempest, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNC Charlotte; and Daniel Imoudu, chemical engineer and plant manager at Cargill, Inc. in Charlotte, NC.

What is your approach to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership team?

The theme of our Spring 2021 session was Zoology and the Himalayas. We studied the animal kingdom against the backdrop of the Himalayan Mountain region and looked at the role culture plays in technology and innovation.

For capstone projects, students created bio-inspired bags to demonstrate their understanding of biomimicry, defined as the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature to solve complex human problems. We talked about the importance of diversity, biodiversity and of valuing a range of perspectives throughout the engineering design process.

This celebration of cultural diversity is present in all of our work. Past sessions have covered plate tectonics in Haiti, materials science and engineering in China, agricultural engineering in Mesopotamia, bridge building in Latin America, acoustical engineering in Africa, and so on.

Diversity and inclusion are core values at STEM Skool - from the makeup of our staff, volunteers and student body to the cultural relevance of our curriculum. Our team very purposefully represents a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives. We have always been and will continue to be proactive and intentional about creating a multicultural, accessible and inclusive environment.

Our commitment to diversity stems from our belief that scientific and engineering challenges are best solved by groups of people offering differing viewpoints. While inventions and discoveries are often attributed to a single person, scientists and engineers work in teams to solve problems. The same applies to STEM education, which requires the efforts of all stakeholders representing all backgrounds and perspectives.

Your Business Model & Partnerships

Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?

Organizations (B2B)
Partnership & Prize Funding Opportunities

Why are you applying to Solve?

Firstly, we are applying to Solve to receive guidance and coaching. Over the last 4 years, STEM Skool has evolved from, “Hey! Let’s get 6 to 8 kids together to do fun engineering projects!” to “Oh wow! We have 100 students, and there’s a whole world of people out there who could benefit from what we do. What now?!”

Most of us are engineers by trade, and navigating the social entrepreneurship space is relatively new to us. We are eager to receive the mentorship and strategic advice Solve would offer our organization.

We are also excited about contributing to the Solve community. We have worked in STEM education for several years now, and our student-centered, hands-on, constructivist approach to teaching and learning has resonated with our students, parents and partners. We think we’re onto something and are always so happy to share our process!

We would love the opportunity to meet and network with other social entrepreneurs. Even the Solve events we have attended during this application cycle have introduced us to such talented and inspirational people.

Finally, we are applying to Solve in hopes of receiving funding and in-kind resources. We have not relied on external funding in the past. However, in order to hire staff, extend our reach and offer services to more underserved populations, we are turning to donors, grant makers and corporate sponsors. Funding would allow us to share what we do on a global scale.

In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?

  • Business model (e.g. product-market fit, strategy & development)
  • Financial (e.g. improving accounting practices, pitching to investors)
  • Public Relations (e.g. branding/marketing strategy, social and global media)
  • Technology (e.g. software or hardware, web development/design, data analysis, etc.)

Please explain in more detail here.

Business Model: We are shifting from a B2C to B2B business model. Since our organization was founded just over 4 years ago, we have offered STEM education programs directly to students who have enrolled in our programs. We have, however, reached capacity in the number of students we can reasonably serve.

We have decided that the most effective way to scale would be to license our curriculum, train educators and offer consulting services. We want to make sure that we are smart about how we add these new B2B services to our list of offerings, and we are seeking guidance in this area.

Financial: Beginning this upcoming school year, we are seeking corporate sponsors to support our after-school programs. We would like these sponsors to provide funding and programmatic participation as mentors, guest speakers, internship providers, and field trip hosts. We are seeking guidance in preparing pitch decks and grant applications.

Public Relations: We would like guidance in developing a marketing and social media strategy. We do not have a person within our organization who is formally tasked with public relations or business development. However, as we forge relationships with schools and school districts, we will need to be more intentional in this area.

Technology: Our learning management system (LMS) is sufficient for the time being. However, as we grow our organization, we will need a more dynamic and robust system. We would benefit from the expertise of software developers who specialize in LMS platforms.

What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?

Organizations and people that we would like to partner with include:

Boys and Girls Club: Our user research revealed that out-of-school time STEM programs are most impactful. The Boys and Girls Club specializes in after-school programming and would be a perfect partner for us as they have a captive audience of young people who would greatly benefit from our services. They are also an excellent potential partner, because they internally address several non-academic and tangential challenges in STEM education, such as transportation, childhood hunger and social support.

100Kin10: 100Kin10 is a national network committed to giving kids a great STEM education by adding 100,000 more excellent STEM teachers to America’s classrooms by 2021. Like STEM Skool, 100Kin10 recognizes that teachers are essential to ensuring that all students in the US (and beyond) have access to a quality STEM education, and their commitment to effective, research-based training methodologies and assessments resonates with our mission.

Dr. Renee Gosline, MIT: First introduced to Professor Rene Gosline as a guest speaker for the MIT Sloan Design Thinking certificate program, we are intrigued by her work. Her research examines how social structure and technology (e.g., Digital Customer Experience, Status, Social Media) affect performance and self-perception. We are interested in testing some of her theories with our students, particularly older students who we would like to nudge towards STEM careers.

Two Solver teams that we would be interested in working with are Code Nation and Open Learning Exchange.

Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

Yes, I wish to apply for this prize

Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize to advance your solution?

Education leads to better, more stable jobs that pay higher incomes thus allowing families to access higher-quality healthcare. Furthermore, poor health leads to lower levels of schooling, since health-related factors such as hunger, physical and emotional abuse, trauma, and chronic illness can lead to poor school performance.

Yet another connection between health and STEM education, specifically, is that students who are able to achieve proficiency in math and science have opportunities to pursue careers in science and medicine.

Our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education. We create engaging, culturally-relevant, standards-aligned programs designed to increase interest, proficiency and diversity in science and engineering, including:

STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that introduces our K-8th grade students to the engineering design process through project-based learning.

Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Through this initiative, we facilitate customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to explore STEM careers and solve engineering design challenges within their communities.

Design Thinking for STEM Educators: We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to follow our design thinking approach to create programs in their own schools.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize would help us to further our work on these initiatives.

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Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The ASA Prize for Equitable Education? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

Yes, I wish to apply for this prize

Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The ASA Prize to advance your solution?

Access to quality STEM education enhances 21st century skills development across all disciplines and affords the future workforce the academic background needed to address a dire shortage of tech talent in the US. 

However, despite the many benefits of a quality STEM education, approximately 70% of US students lack science and mathematics proficiency.

Our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education. We create engaging, culturally-relevant, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned programs designed to increase interest, proficiency and diversity in science and engineering, including:

STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that introduces our K-8th grade students to the engineering design process through project-based learning. Past sessions include: “Agricultural Engineering from Mesopotamia to Modern Times” and “Zoology and the Himalayas.”

Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Through this initiative, we facilitate customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to explore STEM careers and solve engineering design challenges within their communities.

Design Thinking for STEM Educators: Our student-centered, culturally-relevant approach gets students excited about science and engineering, enhances 21st century skills development and introduces students to STEM careers. We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to follow our design thinking approach to create programs in their own schools.

We would use the ASA Prize for Equitable Education to support these initiatives.

Daniel Imoudu (Cargill) Shares Chemical Engineering Careers with STEM Skool Students

Biomechanical Engineering with UNCC Professor Nigel Zheng

Biomechanical Engineering with UNCC Professor Nigel Zheng (2)

Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The Elevate Prize for Antiracist Technology? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

Yes, I wish to apply for this prize

Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The Elevate Prize for Antiracist Technology to advance your solution?

Access to quality STEM education enhances 21st century skills development across all disciplines and affords the future workforce the academic background needed to address a dire shortage of tech talent in the US. 

However, despite the many benefits of a quality STEM education, approximately 70% of US students lack science and mathematics proficiency.

Our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education. We create engaging, culturally-relevant programs designed to increase interest, proficiency and diversity in science and engineering, including:

STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that introduces our K-8th grade students to the engineering design process through project-based learning.

Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Through this initiative, we facilitate customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to explore STEM careers and solve engineering design challenges within their communities.

Design Thinking for STEM Educators: Our student-centered, culturally-relevant approach gets students excited about science and engineering, enhances 21st century skills development and introduces students to STEM careers. We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to follow our design thinking approach to create programs in their own schools.

We believe that out non-profit organization is helping to create an antiracist and equitable future in the US and the The Elevate Prize for Antiracist Technology would help us to further our cause.

STEM Skool students testing structures

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Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The GM Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

Yes, I wish to apply for this prize

Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The GM Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion to advance your solution?

Our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education. We create engaging, culturally-relevant, standards-aligned programs designed to increase interest, proficiency and diversity in science and engineering.

Lead facilitators, Ge Imoudu (STEM) and Christine Tran (Global Studies) share the belief that engineering exists to solve real-world problems against social, cultural, political, and geographical backdrops.

Our design challenges help students to think about how their ideas will help to create safe, smart and sustainable communities around the world. We would use The GM Prize to fund the following initiatives:

STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that introduces our K-8th grade students to the engineering design process through project-based learning. Past sessions include: “Agricultural Engineering from Mesopotamia to Modern Times,” in which students created vertical farms to address access to fresh produce in city centers, and “Zoology and the Himalayas,” where students learned how to use biomimicry to solve technological challenges.

Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Through this initiative, we facilitate customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to explore STEM careers and solve engineering design challenges within their communities.

Design Thinking for STEM Educators: We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to follow our design thinking approach to create similar programs in their own schools and communities.

STEM Skool Vertical Farms Collage 1
STEM Skool Vertical Farms Collages 2

STEM Skool Vertical Farms Collages 3

Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The HP Prize for Advancing Digital Equity? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

Yes, I wish to apply for this prize

Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use The HP Prize for Advancing Digital Equity to advance your solution?

Access to quality STEM education enhances 21st century skills development across all disciplines and affords the future workforce the academic background needed to address a dire shortage of tech talent in the US. 

However, despite the many benefits of a quality STEM education, approximately 70% of US students lack science and mathematics proficiency.

Our mission is to ensure that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, has access to a quality STEM education. We create engaging, culturally-relevant programs designed to increase interest, proficiency and diversity in science and engineering, including:

STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that introduces our K-8th grade students to the engineering design process through project-based learning.

Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Through this initiative, we facilitate customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to explore STEM careers and solve engineering design challenges within their communities.

Design Thinking for STEM Educators: Our student-centered, culturally-relevant approach gets students excited about science and engineering, enhances 21st century skills development and introduces students to STEM careers. We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to follow our design thinking approach to create programs in their own schools.

We believe that out non-profit organization is helping to create an antiracist and equitable future in the US and the The HP Prize for Advancing Digital Equity would help us to further our cause.

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Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for the Innovation for Women Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

Yes, I wish to apply for this prize

Explain how you are qualified for this prize. How will your team use the Innovation for Women Prize to advance your solution?

Personally acquainted with challenges faced by women in STEM, particularly women of color, STEM Skool founder Ge Imoudu works tirelessly to not only recruit and retain girls for our programs but also to encourage them to lead project teams, participate in science and engineering competitions and explore STEM career opportunities.

We would use the Innovation for Women Prize to fund the following initiatives:

STEM Skool Micro School: Our micro school is a STEM-centered hybrid program that introduces our K-8th grade students to the engineering design process through project-based learning. Past sessions include: “Agricultural Engineering from Mesopotamia to Modern Times” and “Zoology and the Himalayas."

Community After-School Engineering (CASE) Program: Through this initiative, we facilitate customized after-school programs that help students use the math and science they are learning in their classes to explore STEM careers and solve engineering design challenges within their communities.

The Innovation for Women Prize would allow us to establish after-school programs specifically geared towards girls. This would allow us to focus on specific issues surrounding women choosing and staying in STEM careers, host roundtable discussions led by women in science in engineering and provide mentorship.

Design Thinking for STEM Educators: We are currently developing in-service workshops for educators who would like to follow our design thinking approach to create similar programs in their own schools and communities.

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Do you qualify for and would you like to be considered for The AI for Humanity Prize? If you select Yes, explain how you are qualified for the prize in the additional question that appears.

No, I do not wish to be considered for this prize, even if the prize funder is specifically interested in my solution

Solution Team

  • Daniel Imoudu Science and Engineering Facilitator, STEM Skool, Inc.
  • GeAndra Imoudu Founder and Director / Science and Engineering Facilitator, STEM Skool, Inc.
  • Ratna Singh Product Manager / Advisor, STEM Skool, Inc
  • Dr. Brett Tempest Associate Professor, STEM Skool, Inc.
  • Christine Tran Global Studies Facilitator, STEM Skool, Inc.
 
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