Friends of Saturday Academy

Classes & camps: classes and camps have community professionals teach highly engaging classes in areas ranging from robotics and web design to architecture and writing. Classes have a maximum enrollment of 12 students in person or 15 students online to foster in-depth contact between the instructor and the students. Saturday Academy also collaborates with many school districts and community organizations to offer specialized programming and free classes/camps to underrepresented, underserved, and low-income children. This program offered more than 240 virtual and in-person classes and camps this year, serving over 1500 students.

Career pathways: ase and steam career tracks:the apprenticeships in science and engineering (ase) program places high school students in eight-week, full time summer internships with a mentor in a business, government agency, or university laboratory whose work is in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or math. Applicants (over 400 students annually) have workshop opportunities to learn college and job-finding skills such as crafting an essay, cover letter, or being interviewed. During the internships, students are exposed professional stem careers, enabling them to make choices about high school classes, college, and career trajectories. This program executed 69 internships in fy22. The department jumpstarted a new program designed to meet the needs of applicants not selected for ase who explore a wide range of career paths in stem education through immersive workshops in the fall. Identity and life skills work was interwoven into the new steam career tracks program serving an intimate cohort.