Jep Stem Programs

As the STEM Education arm of the University of Southern California's Joint Educational Project we aim to help low-income students and students of color level the playing field when it comes to STEM education and opportunities. We are lucky to have a staff of diverse undergraduates and graduate students from across USC who are committed to bringing quality hands-on STEM experiences to the students we serve through our two programs: the Young Scientist Program and Wonderkids. The Young Scientist Program places our Teaching Assistants into 2nd-5th grade classrooms in 7 LAUSD schools in and around University Park for hour-long lessons once a week during the school day. These lessons are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and focused on hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Our Wonderkids staff serves students in grades 1-3 in an afterschool setting. In discrete 2 week long units, the program introduces these students to a myriad of STEM careers through hands-on activities and a visit from a professional in that field. We are always striving for new ways to bring emerging technology and innovative STEM curriculum to the over 2500 students we serve. In addition to our 2 year-round programs above, we put on 2 Workshops each year focusing on themes such as Neuroscience, Aerospace, Photonics & Optics, Robotics and more. A recent workshop, Cancer Awareness was put on in partnership with the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center as part of a new ongoing Cancer Education Initiative that began with a Wonderkids Unit and is now being piloted in 3 of our partner schools during instructional time. We also run Teacher Professional Development Sessions throughout the school year on a range of topics including Climate Science and the Next Generation Science Standards. These professional development sessions are open to all LAUSD teachers and aimed at increasing educator's confidence in teaching STEM so that they can better help their students succeed.