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Expanding high school STEM literacy through extra-curricular activities

As the movement to expand education in STEM fields grows, there must be a commensurate expansion of extra-curricular opportunities for STEM related fields. STEM extra-curricular activities inherently have a larger effect in increasing the amount of STEM graduates than additional focus in the classroom because they help students develop interests and allow them to gain the experience that is necessary for careers. In order to give students the opportunity to pursue their interests outside the classroom, the IEEE STEM club of Bridgewater-Raritan High School, known as iSTEM, was established. This club gives students the opportunity to pursue their interest in four major ways: by inviting guest speakers, by encouraging student research, presentations and entrepreneurship, by creating hands-on projects, and by offering competitions. A combination of these four will increase interest in STEM, a growing field. There is currently a lack of state level organizations and national organizations to bring together STEM clubs similar to the way Future Business Leaders of America brings together business clubs nationwide. To fill this void, we have created NJ iSTEM, a statewide organization that allows schools across the state to meet up in events such as a hackathon and a state conference. Although we have not yet created a nationwide organization, this is a future option open to exploration.