Program Coordinator, Nate Lesperance, rocks out with the WE-STEAM kids while they build and play guitars build from an activity kit delivered to their homes.
Tucker, a WE-STEAM participant impressed us with his coding knowledge this past year. Most students in WE-STEAM were having their first introduction to robotics and coding in Python but in this case, Tuck challenged Program Coordinator Nate to take his lessons even further to help Tucker learn even more. On the first day of WE-STEAM, Tucker was already asking about what coding language the kids would be using.
“For Lua [coding language], I know all there is to know. For Scratch [another language], already mastered it. On Python, I’m limited,” says Tucker.
Though he was usually one of the first to finish a coding challenge and impress the staff with his creativity, he did not stop there. He showed his peers how to debug their own code, and introduced them to the functions he was beginning to create and explore himself.
At first, Tucker didn’t show enthusiasm for building activities, but through encouragement and an opportunity to fail and rebuild, he found success.
“We were able to see the value of challenging a student like Tucker in new ways when his ramp was able to bear the weight of his robot after his second day of building,” says Nate. “From that day on, Tucker had an experience to build upon where his perseverance was fruitful. When his next building activity came around, Tucker was ready to share his new knowledge with peers about stress and strain in construction and how best to engineer his structure to support weighted objects.”
With a little support from Nate, Tucker became a student leader, creating a caring and encouraging space (real and virtual) for all students in the program.
WE-STEAM PILOT
#UNIGNORABLE ISSUE: Children living in priority neighbourhoods have fewer opportunities to expand their knowledge of STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) outside of school.
YOUR IMPACT: The WE-STEAM program helps improve performance and confidence in STEAM subjects at school, sparking young minds to the possibility of STEAM-based career fields and 21st Century jobs. Over the life of this pilot, WE-STEAM was embedded in nine local after-school programs, engaging 369 kids over the past three years.
On a weekly basis students learned about circuits and energy to make music together, virtually explored our solar system and the universe beyond, used coding to create games and program robots, and stayed connected socially online as well as in-person, with social distancing protocols in place.
This program is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Walter J Blackburn Foundation.
9 volunteers contributed 209 volunteer hours to the program last year
Last updated: July 12, 2021