Learn about our projects.
In an effort to bridge the digital divide, STEM SENC partnered with Kramden Institute to provide FREE home computers to 360 students in grades 3-12 in New Hanover County, Pender County, and Robeson County schools.
The computers were installed with an open source operating system and came pre-installed with over 100 applications including an offline encyclopedia with over 50,000 articles. The students received training about how to set-up and use their new computers.
In a national competition, the joint application submitted by STEM SENC, CESTEM, The North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center, STEM East, and the State Library of NC, and supported by the NC Center for Afterschool Programs and the North Carolina Science Network, was accepted to join the Leap into Science Cohort 3.
Developed by The Franklin Institute Science Museum and supported by the National Girls Collaborative Project, Leap into Science is a series of evidence-based curriculum and training resources that integrate open-ended science activities with children’s books for children ages 3-10 and their families. The program designed to take place in community settings like libraries, museums, and out-of-school time programs to engage underserved audiences in accessible and familiar settings.
Leap into Science is scaling nationally through a train-the-trainer model, by establishing state leadership teams who will disseminate Leap into Science programs, targeting underserved rural and urban communities. Learn more about the program.
STEM SENC was one of five community initiatives selected by the Institute for Emerging Issues to participate in ReCONNECT Rural and Urban, part of a three-year, six-forum series focusing on bringing North Carolina and North Carolinians together across lines of division.
Selected communities are actively working on efforts to address shared challenges, and promote and more effectively leverage interconnections between different community types.
In a national competition, STEM SENC was one of twelve applicants selected to join Cohort 4 of the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice. A STEM learning ecosystem encompasses schools, community settings such as after-school and summer programs, science centers and museums, and informal experiences at home and in a variety of environments that together constitute a rich array of learning opportunities for young people.
The STEM Learning Ecosystems seek to nurture collaboration among a variety of partners with the same goal: helping students develop important skills and engagement in science, technology, engineering and math. Being a member of this initiative enables STEM SENC to connect with other ecosystems in the U.S. and abroad to improve education in science, technology, engineering and math.