East Flatbush Village, Inc. Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math (STEAM) Program which is a six-week summer intensive for children in grades K through 12 to learn 21st century skills; boosts academic achievement in STEM, increase interest, expose and introduce students to the skills needed for future STEM career and knowledge of STEM careers options.

Each year, EFV enrolls over 100 children who come directly from the East Flatbush and surrounding communities to participate in the STEAM Program. This is to complement in-school learnings in STEM and to avoid engaging in risky behaviors that compromise their safety during the summer months, with 60% of the target age group are high school age. For children from this community, which is largely comprised of people of color who are foreign-born from countries in the Caribbean and Latin America, EFV’s summer STEAM Program is one of few opportunities they have to access high quality STEM programming. Despite progress in STEM careers where women have made gains increasing their representation in STEM jobs as a result of securing advanced degrees,
Black and Hispanic workers continue to be underrepresented in the STEM workforce with Blacks making up 11% of the U.S. workforce overall but only represent 9% of STEM workers, while Hispanics comprise 16% of the U.S. workforce but only 7% of all STEM workers.1 STEM jobs have relatively high earnings compared with many non-STEM jobs, and the earnings gap persists even after controlling for educational attainment. Among workers with similar education, STEM workers earn significantly more, on average, than non-STEM workers.2

EFV believes that early exposure to STEM/STEAM within a high-quality program that is age- and culturally appropriate, will not only increase academic outcomes among participating children, but could also implicate higher earning potential for those who pursue careers in STEM/STEAM.

Children enrolled in the STEAM Program are exposed to STEM/STEAM career options and encouraged to apply critical skills in literacy, inquiry, critical thinking, and team building/bonding to engage in project-based activities
such as coding, robotics, research and design, and theme-based art activities. Core objectives of the STEAM Program are to:

• Increase academic achievement in STEM subjects
• Provide an introduction to careers in STEM
• Provide opportunities for inquiry-based learning

Our Summer S.T.E.A.M. program is sponsored in large part by AT&T