STEM fundraiser for young students

The Chicago Pre-College Science & Engineering Program (ChiS&E), an innovative STEM program serving grades K-5 will hold its first fundraiser on Thursday, September 11, 2014. The theme of the event is "Developing Tomorrow’s Engineers." It will be held at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Founded in 2008 by Chicagoan Kenneth Hill, the non-profit ChiS&E program is modeled on the award-winning Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) Hill established there in 1976. The Chicago program is distinguished by a "cyberlearning" component where students and parents used computers, cameras, hand-held devices, a website and blogs to document their activities and share them with their classrooms and their families.

Beginning with seven schools in 2008, the program now serves twice as many schools in low-income communities of color on the South and West sides of Chicago. Among many activities, in 2012 3rd grade students attended a Summer Lab Program at the University of Chicago Lab School where they engaged in hands-on activities that reinforced or challenged math skills. In 2013, a bridge construction competition among 4th grade students in the structural engineering track was held at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). In 2014 5th grade students spent an entire month studying math with math professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and UIC.

Recently ChiS&E was one of only 30 organizations out of a pool of 1130 applicants, nation-wide, to be awarded a 3-year $450,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) for its work in "Developing and implementing transformative family engagement programs in the field of early childhood education."

Do you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our WTWH Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Click here to start this process.