Innovative Partnership Uses Robotics to Combat Summer Slide

United Way’s STEM Learning Ecosystem Launches Camp:ASPIRE to keep kids learning during COVID-19

This is not your normal summer.  Camps and enrichment programs have been curtailed or cancelled outright.  Children are out of school, but parents are still working—at home or elsewhere.

But imagine that students at home could learn to build robots that mimic animals or solve a community problem.  Now they can, thanks to an innovative virtual summer camp program in robotics offered by the Greater Bridgeport STEM Learning Ecosystem (GBSLE).

The GBSLE is launching Camp:ASPIRE--an acronym for At-home Summer Programs in Robotics and Engineering--designed to immerse local children in hands-on STEM learning activities and creative fun with robots. An initiative of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County and Bridgeport Prospers, the STEM Ecosystem is offering the program to keep kids safely engaged, and to help combat “summer slide,“ a tendency to lose learning gains made during the school year.

“We’re excited to offer this innovative STEM education program to keep kids learning, problem-solving and growing skills for the future,” commented Gwendolyn Brantley, Lead of the Greater Bridgeport STEM Learning Ecosystem.

Camp:ASPIRE offers a combination of online and hands-on learning with robotics tool kits.  Daily camp classes are taught over Zoom by trained instructors in two-hour sessions.  Based on learnings from the virtual classes, students then complete two hours of activities on their own, using individual robotic UKITs.  The kits contain hundreds of pieces of lights, motors, wheels, and other gear such as sensors. 

“It’s vital to keep kids learning during the summer, when they can lose from one to three months of academic skills,” added Allison Logan, Executive Director of Bridgeport Prospers, home of the STEM Learning Ecosystem.

Students in low income households are particularly vulnerable to loss, since they have fewer resources for learning outside school.  Overall, math skills are at higher risk of loss than reading skills.  Some  experts warn that summer learning may be even more critical this year, as early school closures could mean a “COVID-19 Slide,” where students could fall nearly a full year behind in math.

“Our goal with the camp is to prevent summer learning loss and maintain academic skills needed for the new school year,” said Brantley.  “Our STEM Learning Ecosystem partners mobilized very quickly to make Camp:ASPIRE available to local students.”

STEM Ecosystem partners offering the virtual robotics camp program include ACCESS Educational Services, Bridgeport Public Schools, Cardinal Sheehan Center, New Vision International Ministries, PT Partners, and Stratford’s South End Community Center.  Camp offerings launch this week, with class options for beginning and intermediate learners throughout the summer. 

Learning will continue in the fall as well.  The Stem Ecosystem secured a grant to provide UBTECH advanced learning kits to students at Central Magnet High School.

“I’m so proud of our STEM Learning Ecosystem and their innovative initiatives to provide quality STEM learning experiences that will truly put kids on the path to a promising future,”  commented Jeff Kimball, CEO of United Way of Coastal Fairfield County. 

Camp:ASPIRE was developed through the partnership of UBTECH, a global leader in robots and artificial intelligence, and the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice, a global initiative dedicated to preparing children to thrive through high quality STEM education.  The program is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards.  A portion of the camp proceeds are returned to the local STEM ecosystems for camp scholarships.

To learn more about Camp:ASPIRE,  contact Gwendolyn Brantley at  gbrantley@unitedwaycfc.org. 

To donate to the program, visit www.unitedwaycfc.org.

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About the Greater Bridgeport STEM Learning Ecosystem (GBSLE)

The Greater Bridgeport STEM Learning Ecosystem mission is to prepare students to become career-ready leaders by providing access to quality STEM learning environments.  It is a collaboration of 35 innovators:  educators, business and civic representatives, non-profits, and youth-serving organizations.  GBSLE  is one initiative of Bridgeport Prospers, a cradle-to-career collective impact initiative. It is a member of the global STEM Learning Ecosystem Community of Practice (SLECoP), a group of 89 cross-sector collaborations seeking to nurture and scale effective STEM learning opportunities for young people. 

About Bridgeport Prospers
Bridgeport Prospers mission is to work collectively as a community of stakeholders to have a positive, measurable, and sustainable impact on outcomes for all children and families, from cradle to career.  We focus on a set of seven common outcomes, from healthy and ready at three and kindergarten readiness, to high school graduation and career readiness. The initiative is funded by United Way of Coastal Fairfield County.  Find out more at: https://www.unitedwaycfc.org/bridgeportprospers.

About United Way of Coastal Fairfield County

United Way of Coastal Fairfield County’s mission is “Together, we mobilize our communities to improve people’s lives.” Our vision is that all children in coastal Fairfield County are successful in school and prepared for success in life. UWCFC serves the towns of Bridgeport, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport, and Wilton. Find out more at: https://www.unitedwaycfc.org.

Our Promise to Fairfield County in the Wake of George Floyd's Murder

George Floyd’s murder, and this moment in history, have once again shaken us to our core. We are sad, exasperated and angry. We work with families like the Floyds every day, and our hearts break for them as they grieve their loss. The continued bloodshed and systemic injustice black men and women suffer must stop, now. 

Those who haven’t experienced racism can’t imagine what it’s like. As such, we are committed to taking time to learn, understand, and open ourselves up to new perspectives. We are not afraid to engage in conversations about systemic racism or the need for equity and accountability - at all levels.

Our United Way has spent years working closely with communities of color, working hand-in-hand to better people’s lives.  In fact, one of the core missions of our work is to keep children safe from violence, and remedy the systemic inequality that grips far too many. Through our work, we seek to empower people who are being disenfranchised by a lack of access to health care, education, employment and housing.

While statements are necessary, we strongly believe that this is a time for action. So, what will we do?

• We will seek accountability and transparency in all institutions of government, including the police, and on a local, state and federal level.

• We will continue to advocate for justice, support organizations advancing equity, and promote completion of the census and nonpartisan voter registration. Change will come more swiftly when citizens’ voices are heard and they are empowered to exercise their right to vote.

• We will continue our work to create healthy support systems around children so that they can thrive. This begins by working together to build safe and secure communities with access to quality health care that looks at the whole of a child, including mental health; early childhood development and literacy; and equal access to quality curriculum, particularly STEM.

• We will engage in further training to understand our own conscious and unconscious biases as we work hard, every day, to support those who are experiencing it.

• We will practice the change we seek to realize, which is found in the integrity of the work we do every day in our Fairfield County, Connecticut community – in the way we interact with and treat each other and seek to continually learn and open ourselves up to different perspectives.

• We will embrace the rich variety of voices that represent the communities we serve by continuing to diversify our staff, board and committees. We will continue to make a concerted effort to provide equal employment opportunities.

While we will work hard to be a constructive part of the larger societal conversations, we recognize that we have a responsibility to play our part here at home, at the local level, especially when the spotlight isn’t on us. That’s where you will find us – working to bring as much light, love and hope to those living in the shadows of our systems. The struggle continues, and our work must as well -- every moment of every day.