Educational Studies students Ashley Jackson and Laura-Ann Jacobs receive Rackham Public Scholarship Grant for teen STEAM cafe at Ypsilanti Library

“As a team, we recognize the power of informal learning spaces such as public libraries to serve students who might otherwise be underserved in school contexts,” said Jackson and Jacobs. “Together, we considered which programs might be an appropriate fit for our interest in continuing work that weaves disciplinary content knowledge and identity exploration together.” The resulting program is titled “Teen STEAM Cafe: Public Libraries as Empowering Spaces and Powerful Pathways for STEAM Identities,” and it is a teen-driven speaker series that focuses on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics skills and professions.

Guest speakers will discuss their work, explain how they came to be in that career, and host activities related to their career. In collaboration with the library’s Teen Advisory Group, Teen STEAM will also offer access to opportunities to learn about and create media projects through experimentation and professional guidance.

Rackham Public Scholarship grants support research projects created in partnership between Rackham students and a broad spectrum of community partner organizations. Each of the six funded projects results in a public good—informed by scholarship—which helps to address complex and wide-ranging social and cultural issues locally and abroad. Grant recipients were selected from a highly competitive pool.