Welcome to Student Union
StudentUnion connects college students pursuing STEAM degrees with K-12 students who are discovering early passions, skills, and confidence in STEAM. Our college-level Maker Fellow instructors apply their advanced university learning. And our budding engineers in elementary, middle, and high schools experience STEAM by building hands-on projects in in-school, afterschool, and summer camp settings (STEAM: science, tech, engineering, arts, math).
LevelUP: After School Learning for the 21st Century
The LevelUP After-School Program (ages 4-18) provides full service after school programs to schools with a core focus on bringing kids into new STEAM passions and masteries (STEAM: science, technology, engineering, arts, math). LevelUP mission is to foster 21st century skills that empower and enable students in school, in their lives, and careers.
LevelUP Maker Fellow instructors lead young engineers and artists in hands-on building projects that foster early skillsets in the core subjects of coding, robotics, and game design, and storytelling. Our game-based learning approach fosters self-assessment and internal motivation for learning through earned badges and increasing levels of demonstrated mastery. Our project-based learning courses center around the Engineering Design Process (researching, brainstorming, prototyping, playtesting, innovating) and 21st Century Skills in collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving. LevelUP courses emphasize executive functioning, social-emotional learning, and non-cognitive skill development in areas such as motivation, perseverance, and self-control.
LevelUP’s full service after-school program provides homework help, sports games, games, and arts programming for students every day. Our curriculum is carefully developed to encourage students to discover, learn and explore each subject with hands-on activities in a fun, non-competitive environment.
Intergenerational Learning
StudentUnion works with the latest generation of STEM college majors and professionals raises up the next generation. Young people who are learning a new skill/trade are often the most passionate advocates, volunteers and mentors for the next generation who make have not yet found their passion and confidence in STEM.
Training teachers in STEM
StudentUnion builds internal capacity within schools to continue delivering arts-based STEM education as part of their core academic offering. Our Maker Fellows work with teachers to demonstrate STEM makerspace learning and how to infuse hands-on, STEM project based learning throughout the school day.
Game Based Learning = Engagement
Students earn badges as they build rockets, robots and games. We’ve created a student-centered motivation, evaluation, and rewards system that fosters creative collaboration, team-based problem solving, and peer critique as the framework for self-guided learning. In each session, students earn badges that level them in key STEM genres.
Award-Winning “Challenge Curriculum”
Kids learn best through experiences. When students apply their learning, they are able to understand new information and advance on to new skills with greater ease. Our young engineers build “Masterpieces” in every session of our Challenge Curriculum. It’s real-world, student-centered, project-based learning in medium and media that kids most enjoy: robotics, rocketry, game design, Minecraft, wearable circuits, and so much more.
Program Features
LevelUP’s full service after school program manages your entire afterschool or extended day offering from online program catalogs and registration to staff training, coaching, and site management.
LEVELUP STAFF
Students are picked up by LevelUP staff or dropped off by classroom teachers at the end of school day.
CHALLENGE
Choice-based STEAM “Challenge” projects run in 80 minute sessions (average)
CREATIVITY
Play, creativity, and discovery in a makerspace setting
MAKER FELLOW INSTRUCTORS
Classes are taught by Maker Fellow instructors, trained in student engagement, classroom management, and our STEAM Challenge Curriculum model of learning which emphasizes the Engineering Design Process
CURRICULUM MATERIALS
All programming includes the curriculum materials, and gear necessary to complete our projects
X-HOUR
X-Hour includes choices in arts, sports, or homework help, lead by trained and enthusiastic instructors.
ANNOUNCING
First Hand
We introduce our engineers to the computer aided design through our “First Hand” program, a program in which students learn 3D design by creating 3D printed prosthetic hands for children with upper limb differences and severely injured veterans in need of functioning limbs. Our Maker Fellows bring the First Hand workshop to a school and students rotate through three stations in 3D design, 3D printing, and prosthetic hand assembly.
