Hoops 4 L.Y.F.E. holds STEM event for kids
The kids in the workshop used Legos to build small towns and learned how to build a robot.
Brittany Ward and the Hoops 4 L.Y.F.E. (H4L) nonprofit organization has continued to make their presence felt in the community. Ward, founder of H4L, has expanded the scope of what the organization has been involved with and recently held a STEM event for the kids in the program.
Ward has wanted to incorporate a STEM program into her foundation for some time now. Once she received the funding and necessary materials, she put together an event that she felt would be fun and educational for the kids.
“Last year around this time, we received a grant from the Black Philanthropy Initiative and at the same time we were running a Lego drive to help build our STEM program,” said Ward. “For about a year and a half we have been teaching with Legos about STEM.”
On Saturday, March 13, H4L held a STEM workshop for elementary and middle school students. The elementary students worked with the Legos and the middle school students learned about robotics.
“The little kids did a free build and then a skill build and they also created a town, while identifying everything that goes in the town, which has real world applications,” she said. “The older kids had the task of putting together a robot.”
Ward stated that her kids already had a love for Legos, so incorporating the STEM program into her organization seemed like a logical step, especially because she believes more minority students should be exposed to STEM.
“The curriculum that I developed is personalized, so that was just a common thread that my kids gravitated to and that’s why we developed the program that we did,” she continued.
Ward stated the parents of the kids in the workshop were appreciative to the organization for introducing their kids to STEM activities, as well as for allowing the kids to congregate with one another in a COVID-19 protocol safe environment.
“I got great feedback from the parents, especially during these times when they are out of school and many of them are isolated from their friends,” she stated. “They were able to come together and build and learn. I called it a power hour of learning with Legos and robotics.”
With STEM being involved in some way with many of the new jobs that are becoming available in the area, Ward says it’s imperative that her kids are introduced to that industry.
“There are a lot of companies involved in bio tech and engineering and this is preparing them for those jobs in those fields,” Ward said about the workshop. “It’s just introducing them to what they could be doing in the future.
“I think we should have more programs building up our kids going towards those job fields since they have created those businesses in the Innovation Quarter.”
H4L will be hosting another STEM workshop on March 20 and the event is open to the public. To register for the workshop, visit H4L on all social media platforms or call 336-231-7968. The organization will also hold an Intro to Coding class on March 20.
H4L is also celebrating their 7-year anniversary on March 26. Ward said they will have a challenge to raise funds for the organization that will go toward improving the resources of the organization to allow them to assist more people throughout the year. They will hold a celebration for the occasion on March 27 at 4219 N. Liberty St.
