Welcome to New York STEM City

Imagine a Scientist in Every School

Young people who have the opportunity to meet real scientists and engineers — and who are exposed to science through active inquiry-based learning — are more likely to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). And New York City needs more scientists and engineers! Today the city is poised to become the world’s leading market for STEM jobs, and yet many of our children have never met or interacted with a “real” scientist, particularly in our most underserved neighborhoods. That’s why the New York Academy of Sciences is embarking on an unprecedented effort to put a scientist in every underserved public middle school across all five boroughs of New York City. And we need your help! To learn how you or your organization can participate, contact us today.

The Fundamentals are in Place

In 2010 the Academy partnered with New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development to launch the Afterschool STEM Mentoring Program (ASMP), an initiative to build STEM literacy among middle school children in underserved neighborhoods. ASMP trains young scientists and engineers to act as instructors, mentors, and role models, and places them in afterschool sites around New York and New Jersey.

“The program really helped me to view learning from the students’ perspective. It also helped my understanding of how they think and develop as people.”

— Scientist Participant, SiR

Building on this early success, in 2014 we added the Scientist-in-Residence (SiR) program, which pairs scientists with public school teachers to develop inquiry-based scientific research projects for the classroom. By building partnerships between teachers and scientists, this innovative program not only provides students the opportunity to engage in authentic, hands-on research, it also gives teachers the critical support they need to bring scientific inquiry to life in the classroom.

Both ASMP and SiR further extend their impact through Family Science Nights, which are held at schools or local community-based organizations in each of the five boroughs. These interactive events engage students and families in fun activities designed to help parents feel more comfortable with STEM content. Importantly, these events also allow the students to become the experts and to think of themselves as scientists.

“The scientist was wonderful — helpful, engaged, interested in my students and pedagogy … I want to participate again!”

— Teacher Participant, SiR

The combined impact of these programs has been tremendous. Since the original launch of ASMP in 2010, we have:

• Trained and placed over 1,000 scientists
• Engaged more than 13,000 students from underserved primary and middle schools
• Delivered 132,000 learning hours of engaging STEM content in locations across New York and New Jersey

Now Let’s Take it to the Next Level!

Today — with the generous support of our partners — we are able to train and place scientists in 40 public schools annually, in some of the most underserved neighborhoods in the city. But New York City is rapidly becoming one of the greatest STEM innovation hubs in the world: we can do better! Our goal is to turn NYC into STEM City by putting a scientist in every underserved public middle school within the next five years. To find out how you can help, contact us today.

Our goal is to turn NYC into STEM City, by putting a scientist in every underserved middle school across the five boroughs!