With back-to-school time in full swing, TechPoint Foundation for Youth is thrilled to share a by-the-numbers look at our achievements and student impact during the past school year. With the help of the Indiana tech community, we are growing Indiana’s future!

As you can see, the Foundation’s growth over the past year has allowed us to impact to spread throughout the state, engaging more volunteers and reaching more students!

Our largest program, the State Robotics Initiative, allows elementary schools in Indiana to apply for a grant that includes everything they need to introduce students to robotics, both in and out of the classroom. Robotics is an interactive platform that introduces students to the hard skills of science, technology, and engineering, as well as critical 21st century skills like collaboration and communication. Our corporate partners continue to tell us these soft skills are becoming more and more crucial to workplace success.

Every TPF4Y-funded program participates in our evaluation procedures that are developed by the STEM Education & Innovation Research Institute (SEIRI) at IUPUI. Our most recent student surveys from the State Robotics Initiative show the positive impact this program is having on students.

Following participation in the robotics program, elementary students reported a significant increase in the following key areas:

  • plans to attend college
  • plans to take math and science courses in future years of school
  • expect to do well in science classes
  • are more acquainted with a scientist and/or mathematician
  • are more competent with robots and computer programming

Students also reported an increase in their ability to (i.e. soft skills!):

  • work with other students different from oneself

There are several key indicators that are often listed as reasons why kids don’t choose STEM high school and college coursework, and our evaluation results are showing opposite student responses: kids believe they are good at science, they want to take more math and science classes, they know more about computer science, and they know a STEM professional! Our statistics definitively show that we are addressing the reasons why students don’t go into STEM careers!

We are dedicated to ensuring Indiana’s underserved K-12 students have access to experiential learning opportunities that inspire the pursuit of STEM careers. And we couldn’t do it without the Indiana tech community!

You can continue to support Indiana students during this academic year by visiting our website, and if you want to stay up to date on some of the exciting things we’ve been doing, visit our blog!

Check out these other recent developments in the world of Indiana STEM education and mentorship: