After School Organizations

The learning doesn’t stop after the last bell rings

45

of schools were unprepared to transition to distance learning

900

of schools were unprepared to transition to distance learning

24

dollars are available for CTE funding

Our Digital Platform – In-school, Afterschool, Summer School, and Out-of-School

We have an online platform allowing student and educator access at all times. 

Our Digital Platform offers Inquiry, Project, and Mastery-Based courses and experiences. It includes an Educator, Learner, Graduate, and Community Feature.

More information and organizational pricing

Boxes checked with our Comprehensive STEM™ plan

Our STEM resources can be accessed in-school, after-school, and out-of-school. After-school programs and partners can leverage the content to create or expand STEM offerings. Students can continue to work at home or wherever they have access.

This might just be that magic bullet to increase parent involvement. Parents can serve as mentors to students, learning alongside their child and in the process reskill and upskill themselves for a transforming world of work.

As students are exposed to and pursue STEM activities related to their interests early on in their education, their experiences play a role in future educational behaviors, choices, and goals. With our variety of STEM and CTE topics, all students can find something of interest that they maybe didn’t know they had, leading them to pursue STEM and CTE-related fields.

The 4 C’s (collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication) are by far the most popular 21st-Century Skills, however, there are more. We promote adaptability, confidence, problem-solving, curiosity, perseverance, active listening, leadership, self-discipline, and self-regulation.

Project-based learning (PBL) is learning by doing. There are 10 projects in each course ensuring that student have rich PBL experience. So even if you have no other PBL opportunities, they get plenty with 21stCentEd.

Many after school programs have mentoring experts, but few have experience in STEM & CTE fields. With our built-in curriculum, lesson plans, self-paced, and self-directed platform, lacking a STEM/CTE background is not a barrier to providing meaningful STEM and CTE learning. Anyone, including your own student members, can mentor or coach students enrolled in the STEM & CTE academy.

With 46 (and counting) courses, over 900 hours of STEM and CTE content, and anywhere-anytime access, you can launch your own STEM and CTE academy within days. Every student needs multiple STEM experiences, especially at a young age, to keep the growing generations prepared for a 21st-century STEM-based world.

Equity is education is about ensuring that every student is provided an opportunity to learn and therefore reach their full potential regardless of gender, ethnic origin, or socioeconomic status. A comprehensive STEM education is providing access in a way, a place, at a time, and with people that make it easy for students to embrace STEM with the support to overcome their doubts about their abilities. With access in-school, after-school, and out-of-school, we are the ultimate STEM equity partner.

Design Thinking/Engineering Process is a framework for innovative solutions utilizing creative problem-solving. There are five stages: Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. As students learn to code, start a business, or create anything for someone else, this experience is crucial for a successful outcome.

Personalized learning is designed to foster the academic success of each student by providing learning experiences that are customized—to a greater or lesser extent—for each student. Because of the variety of STEM courses we offer, students can pursue STEM according to learning needs, interests, and aspirations.

Learner-centered education ensures that each learner is unique in meaningful ways, each learner has unbounded potential, each learner has an innate desire to learn. The job of the education system is to unleash that desire. With ubiquitous access to STEM, we meet the students where they are and provide the support they need by making our courses accessible wherever they are so they can be unleashed to soar.

Voice and Choice is about letting students decide what they want to study, who they want to work with, what outcomes they expect, and where and when they do their work, according to Edutopia. Some students may want to start the STEM experience with Sound and Audio mixing, not coding. Some students may prefer to learn coding at the local community center, let them. We provide the resource and tool to help you give student voice and choice.

Digital Citizenship is about safe, respectful, and responsible use of technology and especially the internet. Every student must have this background and it’s all packed in a course.

Empathy is essential to the process of education not only for relationships between teachers, between students, and between teacher and student. Empathy is also essential to the creative process. We provide an empathy warm-up as a pre-course assignment to establish a powerful frame of mind for creating via STEM.

Each course is designed to include 8-10 projects, with many culminating in a student-chosen final project. Student showcases are a great way for youth to gain real-world experience pitching ideas, receiving feedback, and celebrating their work. With a STEM and CTE academy, this is something your community can look forward to year after year.

If we put the right foundation under them–a classical education plus comprehensive STEM, students will have four solid options post-high school: college, work, entrepreneurship, or military. What they will decide to do will be based on preference not, preparation. That’s true college and career readiness.

To combat the STEM teacher shortage we have employed a tried and true method for learning, mentorship. Adults will mentor students, students will mentor other students, and students will mentor adults thereby developing skills in collaboration and communication.

Our STEM resources can be accessed in-school, after-school, and out-of-school. After-school programs and partners can leverage the content to create or expand STEM offerings. Students can continue to work at home or wherever they have access.

Creative and Engaging Learning Environments

The support provided by after-school programs is key for getting students engaged outside the classroom in learning environments that are more suitable for collaboration, experimentation, and fun.

 

Programs like Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, 4-H, and YWCA are increasingly integrating coding programs for students. And while this is an important step in the right direction, we must keep pushing to build more robust after-school STEM programs that go beyond coding.

Pathways All Students Can Get Into

Through our comprehensive STEM and CTE products and services, after school programs of all shapes and sizes have the opportunity to launch a STEM initiative for their students that is entirely customized.

We offer pathways that your organization and student members can select based on their interests and goals of your own program, creating added value for new students who join you. 

By extending STEM and CTE learning outside the classroom, students within your programs will be better prepared to get out in the real world and be successful.