About the Project

In late July, 2021, to prepare our students for re-entry to regular school, we created a 2-week design and problem solving exploration called Space Camp. With the help of community partners, Casey Shay and Rick Phelan from the Sonoma County Office of Education, we borrowed robots, a wind tunnel, a rocket launcher, and solar cars. We made connections with Kurt Kruger and the AMAZING Piner High School Planetarium SPARQ center. Our local paper came and gave us front page coverage for our program. That success, the excitement, and engagement fostered made us want to keep going, to have those experiences all year long! And so, the idea of Equitable ENRICHMENT for ALL as a year-round opportunity for ALL students, was born. We are a small school with a high second language (89+%) and free lunch population. In our school district, with enrollment falling and budgets shrinking, enrichment activities come from parent clubs who can raise significant funds. Our proposal is to create a School Wide Equitable Enrichment Program that would fund monthly robotics, video game design based on grade level topics, coding skills, problem solving STEM/Maker, and ART activities for ALL of our Pre-K through 6th and Special Day Class students. This equipment, these digital platforms, and exciting creative supplies would provide monthly (or more often) activities to give our students the kind of enhanced experiences not normally available to them.