AWARD YEAR: 2024

OPENDOORS OF ASHEVILLE, INC.

DIRECTOR: KATIE VALEIKA

PROJECT TITLE: STEAM AFTERSCHOOL ENRICHMENT FOR OPENDOORS STUDENTS, PARTNERED WITH RIVERLINK, SWIFT APP AND UNCA STEAM STUDIO

Founded in 2009, OpenDoors’ mission is to strengthen community by eliminating race-based opportunity and achievement gaps for students through education. OpenDoors’ STEM program supports this mission by building a bridge between underserved students and WNC partners. These impactful enrichments continue to remain inaccessible or unknown to many families; agencies offering STEM programs come to OpenDoors to increase their diversity and reach. In its 15 years of experience, OpenDoors has found that program marketing efforts often fail to reach underresourced households, while limited transportation options, food insecurity, low literacy levels, and other missing assets widen the economic and racial opportunity gaps. OpenDoors narrows these gaps by marketing programs, coordinating registration, covering fees, providing supplies, and offering round-trip transportation. OpenDoors also brings its diverse staff and years of relationship building in WNC’s under-resourced communities, allowing OpenDoors to connect students to programming that would otherwise feel out of reach, both financially and logistically. OpenDoors requests funding to work with three partners to offer two eight-week courses in spring semester and two in the fall, and two one-week summer camps. RiverLink teaches environmental education. Swift App teaches coding. UNCA SkillSet STEAM Studio teaches robotics, metalworking, and woodworking. All courses will be for middle and high school students and will be driven by hands-on investigation and aligned with North Carolina Standard Courses of study. In addition to the STEM careers explored in the classes, OpenDoors will take students on at least two field trips per year to area STEM businesses to increase student awareness of potential STEM careers.

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