An Aurora City Council committee has recommended the city spend another $75,000 for more kits for a STEAM summer and after-school program for students.
The money would allow 400 more underserved youths in the city to join 1,600 students who have been in the program, which stresses Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics instruction, this year, officials said.
The program involves students from kindergarten through eighth grade designing and building something that includes the students learning how to code a computer to run the items.
The program has served 69% Hispanic or Black students, and 45% female students, with 95% of the students living in households below the average median income, according to officials.
“It’s a very diverse group of students,” said Drew Yemm, chief growth officer at Elmhurst-based TinkRworks LLC, which provides the kits for the program. “We’ve generated significant interest in students who previously did not show interest in (STEAM).”
The program is paid for by the city, although the instruction is paid for by APS Training Academy. The classes are held in APS’ downtown offices and classrooms.
The program started as a pilot two years ago with students in the city’s 7th and 2nd wards, with the City Council members in those areas – Scheketa Hart-Burns, 7th Ward, and Juany Garza, 2nd Ward – participating in actual classroom instruction and help.
The pilot was considered so successful that it was expanded to the entire city this year, and officials guessed at finding interest enough for 1,600 students. It turns out many more have been interested, officials said.
“The 1,600 was our best estimate,” Yemm said. “Quite frankly, we underestimated the demand.”
Members of the City Council’s Finance Committee unanimously recommended the $75,000 to buy 400 more kits.
“This program has proven to be a great program,” Hart-Burns said. “If we teach them, they will learn.”
