The Hicksville Boys and Girls Club was recently selected as a pilot site to receive funding from Hofstra University’s $2.5 million research grant program to introduce and promote STEM—science, technology, engineering and math—learning among middle school aged youth.
“On behalf of the children served by clubs, we are grateful to Hofstra University and the National Science Foundation for partnering with us to bring STEM learning into our programs,” said Tom Bruno, executive director of the Hicksville Boys and Girls Club. “This experience will allow our members to obtain the skills, knowledge and cognitive behavior needed to be globally competitive in the 21st century, and also fulfills our priority to provide strong, evidence-based programs that focus on academic success.”
“I am very excited that we can work with the Boys and Girls Clubs in providing rich, engineering design-based STEM activities to children,” said Dr. David Burghardt, professor of engineering at Hofstra University who also founded and co-directed Hofstra’s Center for STEM Research. The US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and The Center for Advanced Study in Education at The Graduate Center at The City University of New York will collaborate on the project.
The Center received the $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, one of the premier funding organizations in the U.S. The grant will enable Dr. Burghardt to spearhead this five-year project which will introduce thousands of middle school-aged children to STEM-based learning opportunities. During years one and two, 10 Boys and Girls Clubs on Long Island will receive funding. In year three, five more clubs will be added to the project. By the end of the five-year grant, approximately 6,600 children from a total of 25 Boys & Girls Clubs throughout the Long Island and metropolitan New York area will participate in “Wise Guys & Gals—Boys & Girls as WISEngineering STEM Learners,” providing innovative and engaging academic challenges designed to encourage an interest in the fields of engineering and design, as well as an understanding of how science, technology, engineering and math skills can translate into careers.
