Making STEM available to all students is an idea your school must consider. Think about this: School X offers a special afterschool STEM program. Is that sufficient? Certainly quality afterschool STEM programs are valuable; however the ultimate goal of STEM is to prepare all students to be STEM literate. One teacher put it this way:

“I can’t help but think that some of these special programs are somewhat elitist. It’s great that motivated, well-prepared students get these opportunities, but I’d be more enthusiastic about STEM if there were more focus on helping all students develop the mathematical, scientific and technological literacy they will need to function as effective and informed citizens.”

So, in addition to offering after school programs and summer camps, consider how you can engage allstudents in STEM. That likely involves including STEM in the core curriculum. You may need to make a decision about whether and how you will work toward doing that.