This summer 14 high school juniors and seniors participated in the Brooklyn Science Innovation Initiative (BSII), a program generously supported by the AT&T Foundation. BSII, a collaboration between CEWD–led by our very own Dr. Edgar Troudt–and KCC’s College Now program–led by the program’s Director Robert Pero–provided college-level Earth Science and Entrepreneurship classes. During this 5-week program, student groups developed virtual business based on what they learned in class.
Photo via Jessica Nieberg at Kings County Politics
Last week, these students presented their businesses to a crowd of over 50, including the president of AT&T Foundation in New York, Marissa Shorenstein, KCC President Farley Herzek, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Businesses included a system using oysters to clean the ocean, the development of metal cell phone cases to protect and limit radiation exposure, a proposed design for a prototype machine to clean the bottom of the ocean, a solar-powered water filtration system for countries with limited access to clean drinking water, and an app to help make learning earth science more enjoyable.
“We’re grateful for AT&T’s generosity, and are excited to partner with them as we move the needle on STEM education,” said President Herzek. “AT&T and Borough President Adams, along with the great faculty who taught over the last few weeks, have shown support for experiential learning techniques that help our students learn how to work together to come up with solutions to some of the more challenging situations facing the world, and to help them identify potential career opportunities in a growing STEM industry. We look forward to helping guide more students to STEM careers through this partnership.”
“AT&T is committed to developing the next generation of tech leaders and the incredible projects I saw today give me a lot of hope for the future,” said AT&T New York President Marissa Shorenstein. “This partnership with Kingsborough Community College ensures students can learn about and build their skills in high tech fields and we are so proud of all the progress they made over the past five weeks.”
“I applaud the graduates of the AT&T Brooklyn Science Innovation Initiative for proving that they are not the leaders of tomorrow, but the leaders of today,” said Borough President Adams. “Programs like these show that engaging our students in STEM education that creatively engage their minds are effective and rewarding. Thanks to AT&T and Kingsborough Community College for investing in the growth of our young people, which hold inside them the solutions to the challenges facing our globe. For these young people, ‘the world is their oyster’, figuratively and literally!”
See one of our students, Pavan Khosla, talk about his experiences with BSII and interest in STEM education.