Grant Description

Explora’s Statewide Outreach program will provide COVID-safe, experiential STEM engagement for 1,500 underserved students in tribal, rural, and remote communities throughout New Mexico.

Tracking Metric

Description
Over the past year, Explora transformed our Statewide Outreach program to meet the challenges of remote- and hybrid engagement necessitated by COVID-19. Your support in 2020 enabled Explora to provide 1,278 individuals with quality STEM enrichment despite our closure, significant budgetary & staff reductions, and the shuttering of many of our partners. Having maintained deep ties with partners in underserved communities and developed the capacity to provide COVID-safe yet hands-on STEM, Explora’s Statewide Outreach program is well-positioned to support students during the pandemic and beyond. This year, we will engage 1,500 students via virtual (& in-person, when possible) STEM programs and materials-rich STEM Learning Kits. The many crises in 2020 have shown that equitable access to education and economic opportunity is more important than ever. Today, low-income and students of color are most at risk of learning loss due to lack of access to “high-quality remote learning, devices they do not need to share, [&] high-speed internet.” (McKinsey & Company, 2020). Without intervention, these students risk falling between three months to a year behind (NM Legislative Finance Committee, 2020). Explora respectfully requests FHL’s continued support to meet these needs with free, experiential STEM education that scaffolds school-time learning, addresses the digital divide, and reduces learning loss for students underrepresented in STEM.

Goal
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