AKILI STEMarts ACADEMY
The AKILI STEMarts Academy integrates Art and STEM education through digital storytelling and project based learning activities that enable children and young people to grow their interest in STEMarts subjects and careers while developing skills and competencies important for success in the global workforce such as problem-solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, innovation, autonomy, and critical thinking.
These 21st century skills enable them to become agile learners and global citizens with the agency and assets to navigate personal, social, academic and economic challenges in the world around them and propose solutions to solve such problems.
Vision
We envision empowered youth and women with essential 21st century skills to solve real world challenges
Mission
Our mission is to design science, technology, engineering, math and art experiences that activate and inspire our youth and the community to explore and find solutions to real world challenges.
Activities include;
i) Digital storytelling
a) Pitching Games: In this activity, students grow their entrepreneurial mindsets and skills as they apply their passions and strengths to identify opportunities to creatively solve problems, develop their solution into a business, and pitch the idea. Students work in groups to identify a problem in their neighborhood and find a creative solution for it, then present their ideas in an engaging, succinct way.
b) Write Our World :
c) STEM Stories: Students use STEM concepts as they design, craft, build, and share their stories. Include cycle stories; Students tell the story of a scientific cycle by recreating the adventure of its “main character“ through a comic, eBook, or video.
d) Podcasts: This lesson walks students through the steps of pre production, recording, post production, and publishing of podcasts. Students strengthen their skills in research, writing, and collaboration
ii) Mathematics;
In addition, it promotes literacy for children by teaching them how to read and write, digital storytelling, organizing spelling bees and essay writing competitions, read aloud days etc.
These 21st century skills enable them to become agile learners and global citizens with the agency and assets to navigate personal, social, academic and economic challenges in the world around them and propose solutions to solve such problems.
Vision
We envision empowered youth and women with essential 21st century skills to solve real world challenges
Mission
Our mission is to design science, technology, engineering, math and art experiences that activate and inspire our youth and the community to explore and find solutions to real world challenges.
Activities include;
i) Digital storytelling
a) Pitching Games: In this activity, students grow their entrepreneurial mindsets and skills as they apply their passions and strengths to identify opportunities to creatively solve problems, develop their solution into a business, and pitch the idea. Students work in groups to identify a problem in their neighborhood and find a creative solution for it, then present their ideas in an engaging, succinct way.
b) Write Our World :
- E-book Writing & Publishing: Students write and publish an e-book expressing an aspects of the student's life and culture that is important to them to share with others.
- Book Review Writing: Students write book reviews providing a sneak peek at the e-books they have created to help their friends decide whether or not the book would interest them enough to read it.
- Book Trailers : Students will explore character, plot, and theme and learn to write persuasively as they use Wixie and Frames to create a book talk in the form of a movie trailer to promote one of their favorite books.
- Screenwriting: This lesson guides children through the fundamentals of format required to write an actual movie screenplay.
c) STEM Stories: Students use STEM concepts as they design, craft, build, and share their stories. Include cycle stories; Students tell the story of a scientific cycle by recreating the adventure of its “main character“ through a comic, eBook, or video.
d) Podcasts: This lesson walks students through the steps of pre production, recording, post production, and publishing of podcasts. Students strengthen their skills in research, writing, and collaboration
ii) Mathematics;
- Prime Mathematics Teaching Programme: PR1ME™ Mathematics is an innovative, robust, and comprehensive mathematics curriculum that teaches essential concepts in Mathematics. Students work together through collaborative discussions to solve problems, build understanding and comprehension through teamwork.
- Math Camps: Most students in rural areas do not do well in math. Therefore, there is a need to nurture children at an early age to master their basic Mathematics skills to overcome this problem. In math camps students engage in; games, singing mathematical songs, math contests, recreational mathematics, quiz mathematics, motivational talks, panting talk and reflection sessions among other activities.
- Math Terminology: When students are asked to take a standardized test, they often encounter unfamiliar terminology. Students work in groups to develop a list of math terms for every letter of the alphabet and present their work to the class. Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
- Simple Surveys & Graphs: Data analysis is the intersection of science and math, purposely integrating both subjects. Students create and complete simple surveys, graph the data, and share the results with an audience outside the classroom. Students learn to organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.
- Animal Interviews: Students research the physical characteristics, adaptations, and habitat of an animal and share their findings through a question and answer session with the animal.
- Akili Climate Solutions lab:It guides students to develop projects to address climate change in their communities. Students work in teams to develop and implement an environmental solution to an issue contributing to the climate crisis within their communities. focusing ; Sustainable Agriculture (Smart farming eg using vertical gardens, biological control of weeds and pests, organic manure etc), Post Harvest Losses prevention and use of insects for food and feeds.
In addition, it promotes literacy for children by teaching them how to read and write, digital storytelling, organizing spelling bees and essay writing competitions, read aloud days etc.