The concept for Striving 4 Success, a nonprofit launched this summer at Oslo Middle School, began percolating in the mind of founder Willie Finklin when he worked as an assistant director of admissions for Florida Atlantic University and as a recruiter for Florida Institute of Technology.
“Both have really good engineering programs, and as I recruited kids who wanted to get into those programs I realized they hadn’t taken the proper course work, the math and sciences, because no one had guided them,” says Finklin. “So I wanted to help kids gain skills and expose them to careers where eventually they can be in a high-skill, high-wage industry, take care of their families and ultimately transcend poverty.”
Finklin, now a digital communication specialist at The Learning Alliance, began formulating the idea with wife Angela, who has a background in children’s ministry and programs. Their initial goal was to encourage greater interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), especially among lower-income and minority students.
“Through her passion for children and youth and my visioning for preparing youth for the future, we came up with the idea for a unique program that combines digital literacy, civic engagement and 21st century skills,” Finklin explains, noting that they soon integrated the arts into what has become the STEAM Club. “I started with STEM but the civic engagement program has an integrated digital documentation component to it, where the kids record their volunteer projects or their community projects.”
After receiving a $10,000 grant from the Children’s Services Advisory Committee, they kicked off the program this summer with 19 students attending a three-day STEM boot camp at Oslo with assistance from teachers Amie Rutherford, Frances Haven-Walker and Andrew Fallis.
“The summer program was focused on creating concrete experiences for the kids to have a knowledge base when they got to the weather units in their science class,” Rutherford explains, noting that the final project for the girls focused on how weather affects fashion, and for the boys how it affects warfare.
Oslo is the first Title 1 middle school in the county, with 76 percent of its students enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program, and Rutherford, a nine-year science teacher, is its Title 1 instructional coach.
“I’m coaching the teachers to ensure that our students, even though they’re low income, are receiving the same quality education as anybody else; maintaining that standard of education,” says Rutherford, who acquired her love of science from a memorable high school science teacher. “I loved that it applied to every facet of my life; it’s the end-all subject. It’s what drives history and social studies. The evolution of technology is what wrote our history pages. There’s math involved, there’s communications and language arts; you have to be able to do it all for science to make sense. It’s what it brings it all together.”
The STEAM Club’s first weekly after-school session was held last Thursday. They hope to expand to a second day in the spring to accommodate additional students. It is open to all students at Oslo and other middle schools, targeting sixth- to eighth-graders.
“We’re just getting started, but we’re anticipating serving 60 kids over the year and another 60 over the summer. When we talk about unique individuals, we’re probably figuring about 100, because some will duplicate,” says Finklin.
In addition to math tutoring, they will utilize online math software that tracks student gains in pre-and post-testing, and can adapt questions for those above or below their grade levels. Science topics will include areas such as weather, robotics, forensic science, and alternative energy and power sources. Students will be assisted with their school and county-wide science fair projects and will complete a community service project.
Longer-term goals include acquiring a 3-D printer for students to design and build something useful. The curriculum is aligned with school, state, international and workforce standards and is designed to provide skills that are relevant now and in the future.
“They’ll get a chance to solve crimes using science,” says Finklin. “Not real ones,” Rutherford interjects with a laugh.
“It’s enrichment and support,” says Rutherford. “It’s focusing on areas where they’ve historically struggled. If you look at our statewide and district assessments, students across the state have struggled. It’s creating those concrete experiences to help build their knowledge base, and hopefully make it applicable for the real world.”
“Our goal is to make STEAM come to life,” adds Finklin. “They can see what it is in the books, but here they see it at work. They see how it really impacts in the real world and the really cool things they can do.”
“It will hopefully give them ownership and the ability to manipulate facets of the real world that they maybe didn’t realize they had access to,” Rutherford agrees.
Their nonprofit has amassed a diverse board of business, education and nonprofit leaders, a staff that includes a retired doctor, engineer and educator, and partnerships with the school district, The Learning Alliance and the Vero Beach Amateur Radio Association.
Board member Jim Kerns explains that the radio club will introduce students to a game called Fox Hunting – in a sense a Pokémon precursor – where the fox is a short-wave radio transmitter hunted using directional antennas.
“I have a love for science, engineering and math,” says Kern, who hopes to pass on that enthusiasm. “Any help that they need to become excited about it, I’m happy to give it. The jobs are great and the jobs are plentiful, but you have to be qualified.”
“I’m excited because I know kids are hands-on learners. Not every kid learns the same in the classroom,” says Finklin. “Here they have the opportunity to see science and math come alive and have fun doing it. I know that this can lead to so much more in the future with their earning potential and preparing them to graduate. They see the fun but I see the end goal for them.”
“There’s definitely some buzz and excitement on campus about STEAM Club,” adds Rutherford with a smile.
For more information, visit ExploreS4S.org.