The CHALLENGE
In the first months of the COVID–19 pandemic, everything happened very suddenly. Kids were no longer spending their days at school and many parents were now working from home, an enormous shift for all.
Students were struggling to stay engaged since live virtual learning was not yet available to most students, and they had very little connection with any other children their own age, let alone their friends.
Parents were struggling to juggle working from home while ensuring their kids were engaged and participating in their learning.
Employers were also struggling to adapt to business in the COVID–19 era and were searching for ways to support their employees amidst this tough transition.
The SOLUTION
At STEM Minds, we pride ourselves on providing meaningful, personalized experiences that make kids excited to explore and learn. More than ever, these challenging times called for just that. We wanted to provide kids with a way to connect with like–minded peers, the support of a caring teacher, and an opportunity to discover a new passion that would keep them motivated and engaged. Moreover, we wanted to provide some relief to parents, who were experiencing a lot of stress as they attempted to navigate these new circumstances.
We were therefore very proud to partner with Symcor to provide free virtual camps to the children of their employees. Over the course of four weeks, we offered a weekly class in various exciting STEAM topics, including coding, video game design, and 3D design.
A total of 50 curious and eager learners joined us for this virtual camp. We were thrilled to explore these awesome tools and skills with them. We didn’t want the learning to stop there, so all students were provided with access to our online learning platform, STEAM Hub so that they could continue to learn, engage with their peers, and be inspired by the world of STEM.
The OUTCOME
We are very pleased to have partnered with Symcor to support their families during these unprecedented times. It was very rewarding to experience all of the excitement, curiosity, and creativity of these learners, even if just through our computer screens.
The OUTCOME
The goal of this program was to support families during a challenging time, and we are proud to say we did just that!
The feedback we received from students and parents about the program was very heart–warming. As a team, we were similarly struggling with the sudden removal of all our personal interactions with the students we love to work with. We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to provide the families of Compugen with a fun experience that allowed kids to connect with peers and a caring teacher during a stressful time.
Here’s what parents had to say about the experience:
Really appreciated the instructor’s enthusiasm and help. She made sure everyone felt comfortable sharing their work and stayed engaged. Thank you!
My son was bored at home during this COVID–19 shutdown and STEM Minds gave him another interest that lasted days. He loved the interactive learning and how fun the teacher made the content! Definitely will sign him up again!”
Our 13 year old loves video games but is always reluctant to try something new. After the first session he couldn’t find any reason for why he resisted. He is totally enjoying the experience!
Amazing course, my daughter spent 3 hours afterwards continuing the activities after class!
Whatever you are doing, you are doing it very well indeed. The kids continued to work on their code after the class had ended and again after dinner with no prompting or encouragement. They were very excited to talk about their work.
