St. Louis program offers global STEM and entrepreneurial education to students in under-resourced communities
On a Monday afternoon at Vashon High School in north St. Louis, a group of students take turns sharing answers for today's warmup. Inspired by a TikTok trend, they've been asked to reflect on their experiences as leaders in Show Me the World Project, an international learning experience rooted in STEM and entrepreneurship.
'Of course I get donations with a good pitch,' one student responds with conviction. 'Of course I know the difference between light, medium and dark roast coffee,' another says confidently. 'Of course I set a good example for my peers,' yet another student says with pride.
Show Me the World Project dates back to 2012, when Samantha Lurie was in her fifth year of teaching biology at Vashon and participated in a school swap at Clayton High School with a group of students. The experience sparked big conversations around educational equity, as her students saw a huge gap in the opportunities and resources afforded to them at Vashon compared to students at Clayton. They wanted better textbooks, more electives and, most importantly, they wanted to travel abroad.
'I thought, 'Wow, what great advocacy, but I have no idea how we're going to fundraise all this money,'' Lurie says.
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The group set their sights on a trip to Costa Rica to align with the school's biology curriculum, which would also be accompanied by engaging lessons in STEM, culture and leadership. Eventually, they were able to fundraise enough money to cover the trip — but Lurie realized she had a much bigger opportunity on her hands.
Lurie likes to say that the Show Me the World Project was founded when an educator, a scientist and an entrepreneur came together to pursue the vision that the collective community imagined and defined. With the help of co-founders Boahemaa Adu-Oppong, the director of data science and computational biology at Terrana Biosciences, and Sylvester Chisom, the CEO and founder of Global CTE Learning, Lurie has been able to refine the program, expand its education in STEM and entrepreneurship and make it accessible to many more students in under-resourced communities across the metro. The 501c3 nonprofit organization consists of much more than just a trip abroad, incorporating a robust 18-month curriculum of engaging, hands-on lessons in STEM, culture, leadership, finance and entrepreneurship.
Adu-Oppong developed the program's STEM curriculum, leveraging existing modules she helped develop for Washington University in St. Louis' Young Scientist Program while a Ph.D. student and tailoring them to the Show Me the World Project. She developed a set curriculum and continues to work closely with teachers at participating high schools to execute the STEM lessons, which are housed across several modules that also incorporate education pertaining to global competency, cultural awareness, entrepreneurship and leadership.
To kick off the project, students learn about the ecosystem, food web and native animals and plant species of the country they'll be visiting at the end of the year, such as Costa Rica or Ecuador. Students also get hands-on experience in entrepreneurship working in the project's specialty coffee program, which features single-origin beans from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru. The coffee is available to purchase on the nonprofit's website, and students also sell the light, medium and dark roasts at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market.
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After the coffee program was launched in the 2016-2017 school year, the group was able to take 28 students abroad, up from 10. Eventually, the founders hope coffee sales can fully support the programming, but they currently rely heavily on support from the community. Donors big and small keep the project running, and in 2023, the founders received a $50,000 Food City grant from the Serving Our Communities foundation.
Within the first two years of the project, participating students increased their GPAs by 50%, and 90% scored proficient or advanced on the biology state exam, compared to 7% of the total school population. More students are matriculating through college and studying abroad, too, with many going on to a career in science or starting their own businesses. Currently, the project works with students at Vashon, Soldan and University City high schools, and Kairos Academies, with more partnerships on the horizon.
'There's excitement around it and we hope to reach more students and more schools as we continue to grow,' Chisom says. 'That really is our mission — to unlock that travel component, to help expand their worldview, and prepare more students with these unique experiential learning opportunities so that they can find themselves in the world.'
Explore more stories about inspiring St. Louis entrepreneurs who are contributing to the growth and success of the area's startup community.
STLMade is a movement within the St. Louis metro that shines a light on the amazing things our innovative, tenacious, big-hearted people are doing. It's supported by a region-wide collaboration of residents, local leaders, institutions, organizations, businesses and nonprofits helping to tell our story — that St. Louis is a place where you can start up, stand out and stay.
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