STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math)
During the school year P4L offers THREE after school STEM-related program tracks:
Passion 4 Learning Programs Provide Gains in STEM
For 28-30 weeks each year GRRL Tech and Tech Squad students engage in after school or weekend workshops and complete projects including coding and computer programming, circuitry, electronics, 2D and 3D design/printing, robotics and engineering.
Dig.Lit students collaborate and produce video shorts about youth relevant topics including “Living in a Global Society.” Our students also learn from guests who are college students or professionals in STEM-related fields.
Students gain skills aligned with ISTE
(International Society for Technology in Education)
standards:
- Empowered Learner
- Digital Citizen
- Knowledge Constructor
- Innovative Designer
- Computational Thinker
- Creative Communicator
- Global Collaborator
Students gain interests in future STEM-related coursework and careers.
Students develop aspirations and expectations for success in high school, begin to prepare for college readiness and explore possible future careers.
Go2College
Our signature Go2College after school and summer camp program helps middle school students (and parents) prepare for high school success and college readiness & access.
Go2College students complete college and career research projects, visit college campuses, meet college admissions counselors and students. They also learn about the courses they need to take in high school and what student attributes and accomplishments colleges admissions officers look for.
Students and their parents participate in free college preparation workshops to help them make a four year high school plan for college readiness. They go home equipped with college preparation and readiness kits.
At Go2College students engage in:
- Choosing a college to research and creating a promotional web site for the school
- Matching their interests and dreams to possible future careers
- Getting familiarized with college terminology and the preparation process in high school
- Learning about the wide array of college and university options for them in Maryland
- Visiting college campuses and talking with college students
- Participating with their parents in free college readiness dinner workshops
- Learning that there is a college for every student and college is possible for every student!
College Bridge Program
P4L is keen to “level the playing field” & support striving but under-resourced students
who have college goals, drive, &dreams.
Since 2018 we’ve provided College Bridge for 9th and 10th graders. College Bridge helps our former Go2College middle schoolers continue to make progress on the path to college readiness and access
Student Activities
Over the course of the school year, students engage in a series of workshops to help them learn how to prepare in high school and build their college readiness portfolio. College Bridge helps students define their interests and research colleges that “fit them.” We introduce and familiarize our youth to free college access and completion programs like ACES, College Tracks and Collegiate Directions. (All three programs support students starting in their junior year of high school).
College Bridge students take guided campus tours to colleges and universities in Maryland and Washington, DC. They meet and talk with admissions counselors and college students, including P4L alums.
Some of the colleges visited:
- Montgomery College
- Towson University
- American University
- University of Maryland- College Park campus and Baltimore County campus
- Universities at Shady Grove, which includes 9 Maryland Universities on its campus.
Family Connections
Students and their parents participate in a kickoff workshop and a culminating event workshop on the topics of how to successfully prepare for college; how to access financial aid; how to choose a college.
Financial Literacy
Our transformational 6-week curriculum strives to change students’ mindsets around and relationships with money.
The Financial Literacy curriculum has been designed in consultation with the Spiritual Finance Initiative which is “committed to relieving the pain and suffering that results from financial struggle by transforming our individual and collective relationship with money and finance.” The 6-week program covers many topics including compounding interest, investment instruments, bank accounts, credit scores, and diversified portfolios while also improving students’ mindsets around earning and spending money.
Our program has grown to reach 25+ youth and 30+ community members with our first cohort happening in the Fall of 2023 with 6th-12th graders in the Long Branch community, and it continues with its second cohort of 5th-12th graders at the Clifton Park Baptist Church.
