STEM Pathways for Indigenous Youth
STEM Outreach to American Indian/Alaska Native Youth
Since 2020, SAME has conducted research into how best to engage American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth in STEM activities. Begun as a project for the SAME Leadership Development program, the effort expanded with funding from the United Engineering Foundation and the SAME Foundation from a theoretical exploration to a series of outreach events across the United States.
Meeting Underserved Communities Where They Are
In 2024, the STEM Pathways for Indigenous Youth program advanced its mission to meet underserved communities where they are and introduce youth to the vast possibilities in STEM careers.
Along with $20,000 in funding provided by the SAME Foundation, the program also secured $20,000 from the Baker Hughes Foundation and $119,000 from the United Engineering Foundation. The funding enabled programs at four sites across the nation, expanding its reach and deepening its impact.
The Albuquerque Post hosted a half-day STEM camp on June 8, 2024, for the Pueblo of San Felipe Library Program. Attendees received presentations on STEM careers and engaged in hands-on engineering design projects, utilizing STEM and fossil kits.
The Post also provided two new computers for the library’s youth programs and purchased four virtual reality headsets for STEM career simulations for American Indian Services.
Lastly, the Post supported the acquisition of a Stream Table to teach hydrology, geomorphology, and erosion in conjunction with the Pueblo of Santa Ana Youth program.
The Anchorage Post funded a variety of distinct efforts in 2024:
- Mertarvik Pioneer School, a dual language Yugtun/English school, received $5,000 to significantly enhance its robotics program, acquiring four additional robot kits for middle/high school and five kits for elementary school to expand participation in the FIRST Lego Challenge.
- A total of 30 students received a unique tour of a gravel pit, where they observed an asphalt plant, material checking, dump trucks, and equipment simulators. Funding also covered lunch, calculators, and school supplies.
- A total of 10 Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program students were sponsored to attend the Anchorage Post’s Arctic Industry Forum.
- Introduced 3D printing technology to 458 students in grades 3-8 across six schools in the Copper River School District.
- Supported the “Full STEAM” Drone Racing program at Kusilvak Career Academy by providing FPV drones, FPV cars, safety equipment, peripherals, and 4K cameras.
- Provided two sewing machines to the Cook Inlet Tribal Council FabLab to enable culturally focused STEM activities, including traditional sewing and audio engineering.
The Panama City Post hosted a STEM Camp in June, bringing eight Seminole Nation youth and three chaperones to Jacksonville. Students actively participated in an archaeological field school activity, pairing with University of North Florida students, and engaged in discussions on the effects of erosion on cultural sites at Boneyard Beach.
The Tulsa Post supported the Cherokee Nation STEM Fest in January 2024, reaching 1,000 middle and high school students from 22 area schools and the 14 counties of the Cherokee Nation.
At the event, vendors provided hands-on projects and experiments for student to experience. The afternoon session also included an emphasis on STEM focused careers tailored for high-school students.
Building Bridges
In addition to these student outreach events, SAME hosted a “Building Bridges: Partnering With Indigenous Communities” symposium ahead of the 2024 SBC in New Orleans, La., to share insights and lessons learned for companies conducting projects with Indigenous communities. This event featured panel discussions on cultural competency and the STEM Pathways program, aiming to disseminate knowledge and strengthen future partnerships within the engineering outreach community.
The event attracted 51 attendees and 10 speakers (many of whom were registered members of a tribal nation), along with representatives from other engineering societies to promote broader engagement with Indigenous communities.
This project, and the UEF grant is the direct result of the initial investment of the SAME Foundation in the LDP.
My Mother is a very Traditional Native Woman and did a WONDERFUL job teaching me to PAY ATTENTION to OUR ENVIRONMENT, from the LIFE OF A TREE to how we RESPECT OUR MOTHER EARTH. It’s Our CULTURE and BLOOD to be INVOLVED IN STEM, as it’s everything that surrounds us.
Shawna Newman Chocktaw/Chickasaw, President, The NDN Companies, Inc.
STEM engagement can serve as a key intervention in the academic trajectory of AI/AN youth. STEM engagement offers hands-on activities that build necessary skills. Coupled with mentoring and awareness of STEM careers, STEM engagement can ensure AI/AN youth know where to go after graduation. Those among the AI/AN population that choose to pursue STEM education opportunities stand a higher chance of succeeding economically, allowing them the ability to return and help improve conditions within their native communities.
SAME has a unique opportunity to create a national toolkit for STEM engagement that is modular and customizable to meet the needs of different communities. Such a strategy can lead to an increase in the meaningful STEM engagement by SAME’s 102 Posts with the over 500 federally-recognized tribes.
Don’t come in with a set answer. Start with a community dialogue where you listen more than you speak. Native communities may already have recognized STEM efforts that you can join. The purpose is to build the support of local leaders and develop a plan most likely to impact the community.
During the community dialogue(s), participants will discuss existing initiatives/resources already available within the community, as well as within the local SAME Post, in order to integrate them into the outreach plan. It may be that the best option for one location/tribe is to support STEM programs that are already in place in the AI/AN community but would benefit from engineer involvement. In another location, the best option might be to set up a one-day STEM camp/fair for families in the community to reach the highest number of individuals and provide the biggest impact. Yet another location may decide to host a multi-day STEM camp.
Follow through! Don’t start something that you can’t complete.
Each site will be introduced to community engagement resources like:
- National Center for Interactive Learning’s Community Dialogue Guide
- DiscoverE Being an Effective Volunteer
- DiscoverE Leading Kids Through a Successful Engineering Experience
- DiscoverE Effectively Talking to Kids about Engineering
- Engineers Without Borders Education and Knowledge Resources for volunteers
- Urban Institute’s Advancing Cultural Equity through Equitable Development
- Urban Institute’s Building Community Power for Equity
STEM Pathways Flyer
The flyer contains a short overview of tips along with additional resources. It can be printed as a 1-page (front and back) resource.
STEM Pathways for Indigenous Youth
Underwritten by the SAME Foundation, LDP identifies and cultivates talent from within the SAME membership. A valuable component of the program is to identify and address a need within the Society or the A/E/C industry. Participants chose projects important to them. For TJ, Colleen, and Kevin, that meant bringing attention to the STEM outreach needs of AI/AN communities.
“We must go to them.” That was the message we heard loud and clear when discussing STEM outreach to AI/AN communities with Leader Development Program participants (LDP) TJ Fakler, Colleen Rust, and Kevin Remley, as part of the LDP project component. “We must go to their communities to engage them. That means bringing them the camps, science fairs, scholarships, job trainings, and other resources that can help put AI/AN youth on a path to a STEM degree after high school.”
Cultural Awareness Panel video. On March 30-31, 2022, panelists from different backgrounds and tribes including Meskwaki/Dine, Oglala Lakota Sioux, Shoshone-Bannock, Mvskoke Creek, Anishinaabe/Shawnee, Mentasta, Chocktaw/Chickasaw, and Eastern Band Cherokee met to discuss questions and issues submitted to them. Questions included “How would you approach a Tribe or Tribal representative for the first time? Who are good partners for STEM outreach? Advice included the need to speak humbly and listen more than you speak.
“Through the research we conducted as part of our LDP utilization project, to effectively engage AI/AN youth in STEM, the message we heard loud and clear was “we must go to them” within their communities. We must bring them the camps, science fairs, scholarships, job trainings, and other resources that can help put them on a path to a STEM degree after high school and beyond.” —Colleen Rust, PMP, PG, CPG, EA Engineering, Science, and Technology Inc. PBC | 2020-2021 LDP Class; Co-Creator, STEM Pathways Program
For more information
To learn more about the project, contact Amy McGeever, STEM Outreach Coordinator.