K-12 Education Workgroup

STRATEGY #2A - Creating accessible and inclusive education to career pathways (K-12)

LONG-TERM OUTCOME

Philadelphia K-12 schools, post-secondary institutions and local employers work together to formalize diverse pathways that recruit, immerse and inspire Philadelphia students, including those who identify as Black, Latine or as women/girls, to enter STEM fields.

SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES

ALL Philadelphia schools have access to consistent frameworks that define and measure high-quality and culturally competent STEM programming.
All Philadelphia schools have access to high quality and culturally responsive STEM content and programs.
All Philadelphia K-12 school students, including those who identify as Black, Latine or as women/girls, have access to the pre-requisite classes necessary to enter STEM programs in college or directly into STEM careers.
Philadelphia K-12 schools and STEM employers collaborate to develop real-world and career-transferrable experiences that align to STEM careers

MEDIUM-TERM OUTCOMES

Philadelphia K-12 schools adopt consistent frameworks that define and measure high-quality and culturally responsive STEM programming.
Philadelphia K-12 schools adopt high-quality and culturally responsive STEM content and programs.
More Philadelphia high school students successfully complete pre-requisite classes necessary to enter STEM programs in college or directly into STEM careers.
More Philadelphia high school students enroll in real-world and career-transferable experiences that align to STEM careers via high school/STEM employer collaborations.

Co-Chairs

Daniel Miller-Uueda

Science Curriculum Specialist

School District of Philadelphia

Atiyah Harmon

Founder and Executive Director

Black Girls Love Math

Partner Community of Practice (PCoP)

The goal of the CoP is to coordinate alignment and increase programming for all K-12 educators to provide high-quality, culturally competent STEM experiences. In this pilot project, our contact at Cramp Elementary worked with us toward a sustained and multifaceted relationship between the school and partners through improved communication and shared knowledge.

The Workgroup leads for the PCoP are Jamie Shuda and Maya Heiland. We couldn't do this without Community School Coordinator is Elias Corbin, the school principal and the many school teachers and staff.

Our partners in this project are:

STEM Kickoff Event at Cramp Elementary

On February 2024, the PCoP participated in the "STEM Kickoff Event" at Cramp Elementary. Parents and students were invited to visit the different partners' tables to get a bit of STEM information along with a fun activity. Students were given a "passport" to the different activities along with a few STEM task. To see the passport, please go HERE.

STEM End-of-Year Event at Cramp Elementary

June 4, 2025 was our end of the year celebration. This event was a wonderful opportunity for parents, students, and the community to witness what students had been learning and engaging with the exciting STEM activities facilitated by PCoP partners, showcasing the in-school and out-of-school programming available for all grade levels, from Pre-K through 5th grade.

Core partners and their activities included:

BioEYES: Hands-on science using live zebrafish.
Center for Aquatic Sciences: In-class lessons and schoolwide Aquarium Day.
Elements of Community, Inc. (Young Sharks): Entrepreneurship experiences.
The Franklin Institute: Afterschool STEM kits and Out-of-School Time educator workshops.
Riverbend Environmental Education Center: Nature-based learning and animal ambassador visits.

As part of the event, the students were given a passport of activities to search for answers among the different activities. To see the passport, please go HERE. When they finished the passport they then chose some swag to take with them. A raffle that included books, binoculars, STEM Kits and others materials ending the afternoon.

This work could not have been done without the Community School Coordinator Elias Corbin, the school principal, Dr. Yonaira Rodriguez, and the many school teachers and staff who helped make it happen.

Philadelphia Geography Project

The purpose of this project is to create a publicly available Geographic Information System (GIS) tool which allows interested parties to identify locations in Philadelphia where STEM opportunities are most needed, desired, and where additional interventions and resources could make a meaningful impact. This data, provided in collaboration with the School district of Philadelphia’s (SDP) Office of Strategic Partnership, will be viewable in a variety of spatial categories, including feeder patterns, zip codes, census tract, school pipelines, and councilmanic district among others, that will allow advocates, funders, programs and educators target their STEM outreach in a way that will facilitate connecting with schools that need specific programing.