Waterloo Engineering’s fourth-grade outreach program has won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award.
The “Kids on Campus: Imagining Your Future Self in STEM" program extends engineering education to younger audiences in an equitable fashion. Through on-campus experiences, diverse groups of young school children are immersed in a variety of STEM-focused activities that inspire them to envision themselves as future professionals in the field.
The program kicked off in October 2022. In under a year, 3960 fourth-grade students from 128 schools have participated in the program. The program’s overall aim it to give every fourth-grade student in the Waterloo Region District School Board a chance to visit Waterloo Engineering at no cost to the schools or the students.
“Our Kids on Campus program is community student outreach at its most equitable,” said Mary Robinson, the associate dean of outreach, equity and diversity at Waterloo Engineering. “Providing an inclusive space for young people to experience their potential in the STEM world creates untold possibilities. They get to be on campus and immerse themselves in STEM-related activities that tie into their schoolwork and bring academic concepts to life. By igniting their imaginations and curiosity, the program encourages participants to see all the opportunities available to them as they grow up.”
The program is made possible with financial and mentorship support from Google Canada. Google helps fund the buses that transport all students to and from their schools and the Waterloo campus. This enables full student participation. Google also encourages their employees to join in as mentors on the visits, providing real-life examples of STEM graduate career paths.
“The Kids on Campus Program participants get to meet Google software developers who are behind some of the innovative products that billions of people around the world use every day,” said Sandy Currie, STEM/CS outreach program manager at Google Canada. And our developers get to excite and educate eager students in our community about the opportunities that exist in the STEM world.”
Waterloo Engineering’s fourth-grade outreach program "Kids on Campus: Imagining your future self in STEM" has won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award.
Participants on the program enjoy a jam-packed day that includes fun classroom activities, interactive presentations from sponsors and tours of the RoboHub, Crash Lab, Institute for Quantum Computing and the Sedra Student Design Centre. They are also encouraged to ask all the questions they want.
“Grade four student energy on campus has enlivened our spaces with even more youthful zeal,” says Robinson. “The students’ joyful curiosity is contagious and reminds all of us why we got into STEM in the first place.”
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) is a global non-profit association dedicated to educational advancement.
Get in touch with Waterloo Engineering Outreach to find out how you can support its programs.