STEM After-school and Summer Programs

In partnership with the Digital Foundry at New Kensington and ABC CREATE, R&D Impact launched the New Kensington STEM Explorers Club in Spring 2023 - a pilot after-school program for 4th and 5th grade students to explore robotics and coding at the Digital Foundry at New Kensington (a Penn State University facility).

Since then, the Foundation has led a variety of STEM programming after-school and in the summer, creating opportunities for students to learn and explore. Over Summer 2023, students experimented with Automaton and Mechanical Claws, culminating in a Summer Lights event. During Fall 2023, students were introduced to robotics, participating in both beginner and advanced VEX Go robotics units. This Spring, students are Thinking in 3D! Exploring the world of 3D in collaboration with the Digital Foundry, 3-D printing specialists from Siemen’s and R&D Impact faculty, students are exploring real world 3-D printing applications using Scribe 3-D pens, Tinkercad 3-D and Solid-Edge 3-D software. Other students continue to explore VEX robotics.

Spring 2024 community events:

• Chemistry at the Valley Points YMCA on March 22nd

• Carnegie Science Center’s FAB LAB at the Digital Foundry on April 11th

• STEM Under Pressure at the Digital Foundry on May 9th