eSTEAMed Scholars is the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women’s K-12 initiative, and it contains both one off outreach events as well as a larger, cohort based program for students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD).
The one-off events typically take place in the classroom, during the normal school day, and offer a short STEAM experience through the lens of gender equity.
The larger program is a cohort-model program that creates pathways for CMSD students to college. The program spans five years, from 8th grade through high school graduation, with each year containing a variety of programming. Each year of the program, each CMSD student will be paired with an undergraduate student mentor, who provides guidance on STEAM in college, shadow day opportunities, and generally builds a sense of support and belonging within the cohort. The cohort also has a variety of learning opportunities - though the first year in the program is largely relationship building (including events like STEAM Socials, group study time, etc.), in later years the students go through workshops that vary in topic, but include “SAT Prep,” “Navigating a World Built for Others,” and “STEM vs. STEAM: Using your creativity.” Some workshops are academically focused, while others are critical consciousness raising, allowing the students to identify and actively combat barriers for both themselves and their community.