Our S.T.E.A.M Dream
Give today to support STEM + Arts. Full STEAM ahead!
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STEAM is the study of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, engaging students more deeply, improving their science and math knowledge, and giving them the tools to communicate more effectively. This program helps bolster Boston Arts Academy’s education model as a full-inclusion school, where students are accepted based on commitment to and passion for their art – demonstrated through an arts audition or art portfolio submission – rather than their academic, behavioral, or learning history.
By utilizing STEAM, BAA students can apply their interests and passions to their full academic curriculum, helping them to thrive and prepare for professional practice.
For example, STEAM allows visual artists to learn about chemistry by creating dyes to use in their paintings, while technical theatre students use trigonometry and geometry to design lighting for performances.
Help Boston Arts Academy Foundation fund our STEAM DREAM by donating today. Your support immediately impacts the students of BAA and their arts education, which will affect greater change in our community as our artists, scholars, and global citizens pursue their dreams.
HISTORY OF STEAM AT BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY
In 2014, Boston Arts Academy received seed funding to hire a STEAM Director and to create a STEAM Lab. At the time, the school was located within a cramped 100-year-old postal warehouse, and despite the facilities, the STEAM Lab was a tremendous success.
From 2014 to 2017, students’ MCAS scores rose in math and science. The program won a national Innovation STEAM Award from the President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities in 2015, and in 2016 BAA became a Level 1 school.
Unfortunately, funding ran out in 2017, and the STEAM Director position was no longer supported. At this time, BAA started preparing for the construction of a new school building and moved to a temporary space in Dorchester’s Fields Corner neighborhood. As a result, STEAM program offerings were significantly reduced.
FUTURE OF STEAM AT BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY
Boston Arts Academy is re-committed to creating a space and curriculum for students to explore the territory where science, technology, engineering, art, and math intersect. The new school building, which opened in time for the 2022/2023 school year, has a dedicated STEAM Lab where students will have access to the tools needed to explore and apply STEAM ideas and practices. To further elevate and fully incorporate STEAM programming at BAA, it is crucial that we implement these key initiatives:
HIRE – DEVELOP – OUTFIT – PROVIDE – MODEL
HIRE a STEAM Director, who will be responsible for all operations of the STEAM Lab and support the development of innovative STEAM programming.
DEVELOP an innovating and engaging STEAM curriculum that incorporates interdisciplinary experiences and involves real-world problems that require students to think critically and participate in hands-on learning.
OUTFIT the STEAM Lab with materials and tools, such as a 3-D printer and laser cutter, for the students to design and implement their own projects and experiments.
PROVIDE professional development opportunities for BAA teachers to support the integration of the STEAM curriculum and to use the STEAM Lab’s cutting-edge resources.
MODEL emerging STEAM curriculum by engaging the educational community – locally, regionally, and nationally – in workshops and round tables.
Now is our opportunity to return to our STEAM dream. We dream that BAA’s new school building can finally use this dedicated STEAM Lab with materials and tools for our students to explore and apply STEAM ideas and practices.
DONATELearn more about the need for STEAM and Career & Technical Education (CTE) Program
A 2021 report by the National Science Foundation and Pew Research Center revealed continued underrepresentation of Black and Latinx people in college enrollment and graduation, workforce participation, and rates of employment in STEM fields. It was also reported by the National Endowment for the Arts that those who work in the arts are less likely than other workers to be of a minority race or ethnicity. In fact, from 2012-2016, just under 25% of working artists in the U.S. were non-white.
Boston Arts Academy helps to reverse these trends by offering opportunities for students, the majority of whom are non-white and considered low-income, to engage in STEAM (STEM + Art) through, for example, our Multimedia Engineering CTE program. The benefits of CTE programs are well-documented. Research conducted by the U.S. Department of Education has shown that students involved in CTE programs are more likely than those who are not to graduate from high school (94% vs. 86%), enroll in college (72% vs. 70%), and obtain a full-time job (72% vs. 67%). They are also more likely to earn higher wages.
In addition to engaging students in a curriculum with tangible benefits, we also teach students that their voices have value and power and encourage them to use their artistic talent to be engaged citizens. We strive to empower our students to overcome race and gender barriers in all areas of the arts, and, by providing diverse groups of artists, designers, and technicians with interdisciplinary training and experiences, we are answering the call for a multicultural workforce, particularly in STEAM fields.
Learn more about our STEAM curriculum on the BAA Academics webpage HERE
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