STEM for all
Rishi Srinivasan ’23 always knew that when he grew up, he wanted to be a doctor. After he began volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters, he wondered why the children he was paired with didn’t aspire to STEM careers like he did when he was their age.
The answer, he found, came down to two things: exposure and mentorship.
Rishi Srinivasan ’23, co-founder of the STEM For All Academy
During his junior year at Boston College, Srinivasan and his brother Rohit, and their friends Colin Knutson and Joey Marsello founded the STEM For All Academy, a nonprofit that teaches an “inspirational and memorable” curriculum to children grades K through 12, with a heavy focus on ages 10 through 15. Headquartered in Boston, STEM For All Academy serves over 500 children from disadvantaged communities in Boston and New York.
“When we began designing a curriculum,” said Srinivasan, “our goal was to show the coolest topics in science”—concepts that were applicable and interesting.
But that wasn’t always the case, especially for the first cohort of students when the co-founders brought their program to one of the Boston neighborhood schools.
“When we started at our first school, none of the students wanted to be there. Many of them were forced to stay after school because their parents couldn’t pick them up until later. Initially, the first group of kids we had were a little hard to manage, but one by one, a spark formed.
“I remember one student in particular who was very uninterested. But then our cardiology lesson came, and he was completely silent throughout the whole thing. He asked so many questions, and he wasn’t usually one to participate. At the very end he said, ‘I want to be a cardiologist.’ It was the coolest thing ever.”
Woods College Director of Corporate Engagement Mike Heaney (Lee Pellegrini)
STEM For All Academy’s mission is all about accessibility. It is an entirely free after-school option for parents; schools that want to participate in the program are only asked to provide the cost for expenses such as course supplies and materials. Courses are taught by undergraduate and graduate students, many from Boston College and other Boston area colleges and universities.
The STEM For All co-founders believe that a students-teaching-students approach inspires a passion for understanding and learning the course material, while also increasing their engagement and confidence throughout the curriculum.
“Cost is definitely the biggest barrier for a lot of people to access STEM. If you don’t have the exposure or wealth to join these immersion programs, it’s really hard to find STEM. Our goal is to make it as accessible as possible,” said Srinivasan.
Michael Heaney, director of corporate engagement and an adjunct professor at the Woods College of Advancing Studies, became a STEM For All Academy advisory board member last November. Heaney describes his responsibilities as “very fun and fluid.
“When Rishi and his fellow co-founders asked if I wanted to be involved as an advisor, it took me about five seconds to think about it. I said, ‘Sign me up.’ I was so inspired by the way these young people saw a huge need and found a way to fill it. Even in their post-graduate years, these people are setting the world aflame. They are exactly what it means to be men and women for others.”
When Heaney first accepted the role, he assumed one of his chief responsibilities would be to ensure that these young adults not overcommit themselves amid the busy lives they lead outside of the nonprofit. That proved not to be the case.
“I come home and drink coffee so that I’m ready for our 9:30 p.m. board calls and by 10:30 I can’t go to sleep—not from the caffeine, but because I’m so inspired by what they’re doing. I catch myself laughing sometimes, thinking, ‘I’m not here to caution them and tell them to put on the brakes anymore. I’m on board with go, go, go.’ Because what they’re doing is so amazing.”
Looking to the future, Srinivasan hopes to continue growing and improving STEM For All’s accessibility through one-on-one services that are being piloted right now. On February 22, STEM For All Academy will host its first annual gala at the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel in Cambridge, featuring guest speakers Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler Ph.D. ’12 and Harvard Medical School Professor David Sinclair. Ten-year-old Sean Atitsogbe—known as “Sean the Science Kid,” according to Srinivasan—will receive this year’s STEM For All Youth STEM Leader Award.
For more information on STEM For All Academy, see www.stemforallacademy.org