Access to High Quality STEM Programs

Redesigned Curriculum Promotes Educational Equity

Thanks to our teachers, schools, donors, and partners, we’re able to increase access to science education across the socioeconomic spectrum.

Educating children with effective and enriching science and environmental education, along with getting them outdoors, is essential to students reaching proficiency in science. It is particularly important to make these opportunities available for youth who may not typically have access to high-quality programs like Sierra Nevada Journeys.

Sierra Nevada Journeys redesigned and updated its curriculum with an Equity by Design approach. This model suggests that if you design for the needs of those at the margins, your design will be inclusive for everyone.

Our education team interviewed stakeholders in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities to amplify the voices within these populations. The resulting feedback was used to reshape our STEM curriculum to more effectively reach students. We emphasize connection to students who have traditionally had, and continue to have, fewer options in STEM education and pipelines to STEM careers.

The benefits of Equity by Design approach to curriculum include:

1. Ensuring that the curriculum reflects the experiences, cultures and histories of our diverse student populations.

2. Providing multilingual materials to support Emerging Multilingual Language Learners.

3. Fostering connections between curriculum and our local communities by engaging students in field days at locations that have cultural significance.