Samsung helped transform the Lachman Family STEM Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark into a high-tech Tween Tech Center offering Club members a modern and comfortable place to learn STEM after school hours. The space is outfitted with Samsung Galaxy Tablets loaded with a STEM-focused curriculum designed specifically for middle school-aged youth at Boys & Girls Clubs. Samsung also incorporated some of its other technologies, including Samsung 65” TVs and Samsung Level On headsets.

“The disparity in access to STEM education is a critical issue that needs to be address in our community,” said Kavita Mehra, interim chief executive officer at Boys & Girls Club of Newark. “Thanks to Samsung’s investment in the Club and the community, Boys & Girls Club of Newark will be able to provide nearly 1,000 members with the best opportunities in STEM education so that they are empowered to achieve their greatest potential.”

Central Ward Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins was in attendance.

Newark’s Tween Tech Center will be the twelfth made possible at Clubs across the United States by the partnership between Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Samsung Electronics America. Over the past two years, BGCA and Samsung have created Tween Tech Centers at Clubs across the country, serving more than 11,000 members with a custom curriculum called Building Blocks that was developed by Scholastic and uploaded to the Samsung Galaxy tabs donated to the Clubs. Boys & Girls Clubs of America held its last surprise tech makeover in Monterey, California on December 11, 2015. Samsung has also pledged to disperse an additional 600 tablets to other Clubs around the country by this spring.

Click here to view our latest Tween Tech Center makeovers.

“We believe in the power of STEM education and empowering young minds to embrace the skills that will prepare them for careers in the digital age,” said Ann Woo, senior director of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics America. “The Tween Tech Center is a resource that helps brings the kids’ learning and new ideas to life. It also gives them a chance to interact and bond with fellow members who share similar interests.”

At Boys & Girls Clubs, Samsung employees have worked together to clean and reorganize facilities, including sprucing up outside landscapes and organizing supplies, to foster an engaging and safe environment for students during the company’s semiannual Day of Service program. Also, Gregory Lee, the President and CEO of Samsung Electronics North America, was honored with the William “Jazz” Jones Award at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark’s annual Evening of the Stars gala last night.

For more than a decade, Samsung’s Hope for Children initiative has been focused on helping youth in underserved communities across the United States gain access to quality healthcare, technology resources and STEM education. In addition to the company’s work with Boys & Girls Clubs in Newark, Samsung is also supporting New Jersey communities through other local and national programs, including emPower Tomorrow and its Solve for Tomorrow contest.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,000 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter.

Previously used as a storage space at the after-school club, the new Tween Tech Center aims to equip middle school students with the tools they need for a successful future in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—fields where achievement gaps have widened substantially over the past couple decades. These disparities are often due to socioeconomic factors, as well as students’ lack of exposure to STEM curriculum and role models.

Closing Learning Gaps in STEM Education

The highly digitalized space features colorful and engaging work and reading stations club members can utilize during after-school hours. It is also outfitted with more than 40 Samsung Galaxy tablets and laptops that allow students to access a customized STEM-focused curriculum—one the students might not otherwise have the exposure to in their schools.

Christina Jones, a 13-year-old who hopes to major in engineering and work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was most impressed by the devices and how they allow her “to explore more of the world with just the touch of her fingertips.”

The latest Tween Tech Center is part of an ongoing effort of Samsung and BGCA to deliver technology, customized curricula and new learning spaces that enable youth to explore and learn more about STEM. In the past two years, the initiative has reached more than 11,000 Club members across the United States. Samsung will also disperse an additional 600 tablets to other Clubs around the country by the spring of 2016.

Opening Doors to a Bright Future

“Samsung believes it’s our responsibility to inspire passion about STEM subjects early in students’ lives with the hope that they will pursue them as university majors, and ultimately viable career paths,” said Ann Woo, senior director of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics North America. “By putting these cutting-edge resources in the hands of Boys & Girls Clubs’ staff members, they’ll be better positioned to effectively instruct and nurture the interest in STEM among the middle school population outside regular classroom hours.”

Congresswoman Judy Chu, U.S. Representative for California’s 27th Congressional District, also noted the critical importance of STEM education endeavors like those Samsung is making.

“America is lagging behind the rest of the developed world in the STEM fields, threatening our leadership role in the future,” she stated. “Exposure to and opportunities with these new technologies for our youth today can change that. When every child who has an interest in STEM has the opportunity and resources they need, the possibilities for our future are bright.”

It’s the opportunities and resources like the ones Congresswoman Chu talked of that Samsung and BGCA hope to continue to offer, lessening the disparities in today’s STEM education.

In addition to Samsung’s work with Boys & Girls Clubs in the Los Angeles area, Samsung is also supporting the community through other local initiatives, including its emPOWER Tomorrow and Ready, Set, Gold! programs.