We mentor 4th grade girls who are experiencing homeless or transient housing. Our engagement-based learning curriculum gives them a visceral understanding of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math),

Twice weekly for 48 weeks we engage our groups of 8 girls in STEM activities including museum visits, techie talks, and lunch and learns with college students pursuing a STEM degree, to name a few. SEF is the intensive educational mentoring intervention these girls need to rise above their circumstance.

We start each Saturday enjoying breakfast together, uniting as a group while we share the details for the day. On museum day, for example, we congregate at a park or the museum restaurant before we meet with our guide to start our tour. And then we're off!

Although many of our girls have been on a school field trip to a museum once or twice before, going in a small group with a mentor is a new experience that’s all about them. We’re sensitive to how they’re ingesting and learning, absorbing knowledge that could expand their possibilities far beyond their current circumstance. We do our very best to ensure that it’s always an awesome experience that makes them feel stronger and more capable.

These events build on each other, sparking a fire to ignite their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics. They set her course for a lifetime of success in fields where STEM-educated employees are in high demand. Our museum visit concludes with lunch and a visit to the museum gift shop for a souvenir – also a special experience.

Through all these events, we bring our students into a world to which they may not otherwise be exposed. At the end of each event we process that experience and enlighten and stimulate them about the upcoming week’s event.

SEF is a lighthouse in an otherwise bleak existence and an effective answer to America’s growing shortage of STEM-educated females, so we know we are preparing our girls for a viable career.