Students in under-resourced communities across the state have significantly fewer opportunities to connect to STEM learning than their more advantaged peers. This uneven approach fails to ensure that youth are developing their skills and abilities in these fields, and as a result, we run the risk of weakening our future workforce and economy. STEM Beyond School (SBS) was established to address this problem by focusing on two critical aspects: providing high quality, out-of-school time STEM learning experiences to underserved youth now, and creating a supportive infrastructure for community-based programs to continually improve and expand to reach more youth over time.

EMSP released an RFP for 2 local sites in spring 2018. Sites were awarded $25,000 to serve a cohort of at least 30 students, grades 3-8 in at least 5 different STEM activities for at least 50 hours of contact time per student, 70% or more underserved, AND participate in at least 70 hours of professional development for each site. This occurred over the 2019-2020 school year. Sites were supported by OSU Extension staff dedicated to the Northwest Region, and collaborated across statewide networks. Pre- and post- surveys were conducted and self-assessments were taken upfront followed by an exit interview at the end. Ongoing reporting on both student activity and professional development participation was required.

• Year 2 Evaluation Report, Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning