My STEM My Story

We empower African American youth to identify environmental problems in their own communities, conduct scientific investigations, and create and implement action plans to address those issues.

The goals of My STEM My Story are to investigate:

1) the development and use of a STEM Club curriculum, which uses a graphic novel, justice-oriented STEM investigations, story writing, community action plans, and mentoring as healing justice tools to build the capacity of young people to act on their environment for the good of their communities (Ginwright, 2010) and

2) radical healing as an approach to embed equity and inclusion into informal STEM programming and to promote positive STEM identity development in African American youth

About Us

My STEM My Story is a program dedicated to empowering youth through engaging STEM activities, guided by the historic documentation about the community of Tillery, North Carolina. Through the development of a graphic novel that narrates Tillery’s history, My STEM My Story empowers youth to use scientific investigations to identify and solve real-world problems through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. By using hands-on activities and community engagement, youth learn the fundamentals of STEM and the importance community involvement.

Our Mission

Our mission is to empower youth to use STEM to improve our communities. We aim to inspire and guide youth to harness the power of STEM to identify challenges, create innovative solutions, and take actionable steps toward a better future for their communities and the society at large.