NE STEAM Coalition

It’s STEM Week, and we’re continuing our series:

Today’s letter is "E" - Engineering Clean Energy Pathways.

Sometimes engineering starts with something as simple as marshmallows, sticks, and a challenge: Can you build a structure that stands?

In this activity, youth practiced the same habits engineers use in the real world: designing, testing, troubleshooting, adapting, and making something fit for purpose.

Those skills matter far beyond one project. Clean energy, efficient buildings, transportation electrification, environmental technology, and green infrastructure all need people who can solve problems, work with materials, test ideas, and improve systems.

At NE STEAM, hands-on projects help Black and BIPOC youth see engineering as something they can touch, build, test, and lead — from a marshmallow tower today to climate pathways tomorrow.

It’s STEM Week, and we’re continuing our series: STEAM Builds Climate Futures

Today’s letter is T- Technology.

For our permacomputing camp pilot, youth learned that technology does not have to be disposable. They opened up computers, explored the parts inside, practiced refurbishing older devices, installed open-source tools, and used those computers for 3D printing projects.

Permacomputing asks us to think differently about the tools we use every day. Instead of always replacing devices, what if young people learned how to repair, maintain, reuse, and extend the life of technology?

That is what this pilot was about: hands-on learning, climate awareness, digital access, and helping youth see themselves as problem-solvers in a changing world.