SAN RAMON, CA — When he was in fourth grade, Aadhav Prabu took a course in 3D printing. He loved it, but as he got older, he found that courses on emerging technology like 3D printing or robotics were only offered in expensive after school courses.
Seven years later, Prabu and his friend Akshar Raikanti, both juniors at Dougherty Valley High School, is offering free classes in STEAM topics to hundreds of students. Prabu and Raikanti started a club where they shared their knowledge with other students, and the club evolved into the STEAM Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) whose goal is free technology education.
“We think that STEAM education is an important part of education, but since schools aren’t offering this free of charge and many parents don’t enroll their kids in these programs because of high prices, we decided that we could offer these programs free of charge as a nonprofit to students,” Prabu, 16, told Patch.
The STEAM Foundation is enrolling for its spring semester 10-week camps, which are taught by a team of 80 trained volunteers. Many of them are graduates of the program. It is offering 10-week, online programs in 3D printing, robotics, app development, Java programming, Python programming, graphic design, and app development. Each course except app development has four camps, which meet for two hours each week.
Interested parents can apply here until Feb. 1. 21 camps are open to students in grades 5-8, and are each open to 30 students. In the fall, the program educated 150 students, but has set its sights higher for the spring: he’s aiming for 630. 410 have already enrolled, he said.
Courses usually begin with slideshow instructions, and then smaller breakout rooms where students can work on ongoing projects. Sessions usually end with an educational game.
Though courses are free, some materials, like robotics kits, will need to be purchased.
Prabu and Raikanti’s foundation is also running an outreach program to bring technology education to underserved populations. The program finds talented students in underserved schools, and uses fundraising dollars to provide them with equipment and curriculum materials.
The program is also fundraising to help purchase equipment for students in need.
Though Prabu is busy in high school, he told Patch he and Raikanti devote 10-15 hours a week to fundraising and managing the nonprofit he says he wants to continue as long as possible.
“It’s a passion project,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like work when we’re doing it.”
Email [email protected] for more information. Donations can be made here.
