Teacher Trainings Promote STEM Learning in After School and Summer Settings

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Johnstown, PA (June 27, 2016) –At an annual growth rate of 17 percent,STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) occupations are among the fastest growing in the U.S. economy. The question is: Are there enough young people interested in STEM fields to meet demand?

Well-facilitated STEM activities encourage youth to be curious, ask questions and make connections with the world around them; essential skills for success in life and in our global economy. To better prepare young people for the jobs of the future, The Learning Lamp is increasing the number of STEM lessons taught in summer and after school programs, as well as proving staff members with additional training in teaching STEM activities.

The Learning Lamp’s free summer camps in Johnstown’s Moxham, Prospect and Oakhurst neighborhoods introduced standards-aligned STEM activities to children entering grades K-8. Staff geared up for the new program content by attending ASSET STEM Education™ training in Pittsburgh. ASSET STEM Education™ builds on the belief that educators are the agents of change to improve student achievement. The idea is when teachers learn, students learn.

Over the course of the summer, outreach instructors will lead campers in a range of hands-on STEM learning projects. While younger children explore the engineering of bubbles with “Bubble Bonanza,” older children will blast off into aeronautical engineering with “Sky’s the Limit,” which teaches kids how to use flying technologies from NASA to design their own flying machines. More advanced campers will examine biomechanical engineering and design their own helmets for crash-test dummies with “Put a Lid on it.”  

Staff of The Learning Lamp’s licensed Before and After School Child Care Programs are gearing up to increase the presence of STEM activities in their lessons, as well. To help them build their own skills, they are participating in a National Afterschool Association (NAA) STEM Micro-Credential and Digital Badging Pilot Program. 

The project, funded by The Noyce Foundation, is the first-ever after school STEM credential and is aimed at supplementing what children learn during the school day with high quality STEM learning opportunities in after school settings. Pennsylvania is one of only three states awarded funding for the pilot program, along with New Jersey and Florida. The Learning Lamp was selected to participate in the pilot project based on its commitment to Keystone STARS, Pennsylvania’s voluntary child care improvement initiative, and the agency’s emphasis on program quality. Directors spent approximately six hours in trainings, meetings and being observed by certified instructors before earning the STEM micro-credential. The Learning Lamp will implement a new series of STEM activities at nine after school sites in Cambria and Somerset Counties in fall of 2016.

For more information about The Learning Lamp, visit thelearninglamp.org.

The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. The Learning Lamp served 30,711 children from 57 school districts and 53 non-public and private schools and other organizations in 17 Pennsylvania counties and one county in Maryland in 2015.

Our programs include: one-to-one tutoring; before/after school programs; portable classrooms aimed at building math and science skills; alternative education programs for at-risk students; evidence-based prevention programs; online learning and credit recovery; SAT preparation; educationally-focused child care; literacy-based preschool programs; and grant writing and project consulting for schools.