A team of Harvard and MIT students are cycling across America this summer to organize hands-on STEM learning festivals. @SpokesAmerica. Summer 2016
This summer, one team of 6 students is cycling from Washington D.C. to San Francisco, CA and another from SF to DC, on a quest to show kids how much fun learning can be. In 10-15 cities along our way we will organize "learning festivals". The bicycling component makes this a great example project to show to the students. The goal of each learning festival is to excite middle and high school studen
ts to start projects of their own. Each festival will consist of 4 hands-on, project-based classes taught by students passionate about their respective fields. The classes are educational opportunities to learn about these disciplines, but are also meant to show the students that learning can be an exciting exploration of knowledge. These four classes will be followed by a “How to Start a Project” workshop in which we walk the students through how to brainstorm, communicate, and decompose an idea into manageable chunks. After this workshop, we invite the students to work on projects of their own, which we will help them develop and carry out as part of the end of the festival, with the resources we have. We have a full contingency plan in case of delays, a full outline of necessary food (to be purchased on the road) and equipment, as well as medical training and supplies.
