LS3P recently STEAM’D the NC Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs’ Annual Teen STEM Summit, bringing Architecture and Design activities to the Friday evening program. Over 100 teens and chaperones from across the state gathered in Raleigh for 24-hour fast-paced event of minds-on, hands-on learning, kicking off with LS3P, followed by Saturday sessions at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and NC State College of Engineering.

 

It was an honor to share insights about, concepts of, and activities around how buildings come to life while highlighting career pathways in architecture, interior design, planning, and construction. Teens learned about zoning and site selection, building orientation and daylighting, space planning, architectural and interior materials selection, construction documents and administration, and created a virtual “Bright Futures District” on actual sites near the Raleigh Boys & Girls Clubs using Forma with Veras extension.

 

The teens offered great feedback on the event including:

• “It made me think more about the science of buildings.”

• “I liked the different stations that taught me about design processes.”

• “It was very educational, I learned a lot about what materials work best for different buildings.”

• “Learning about designing things and where and how to build stuff.”

 

And from the Club chaperones:

• “One of my members discovered she is interested in architecture/design.”

• “It got the teens thinking about different career choices that are not obviously connected to STEM.”

 

LS3P encourages our people to engage our communities in meaningful ways, living out our vision, mission, and values. Special thanks to RDU for volunteering at the event (and behind the scenes) and to CLT for sharing some great materials!

 

Seeds were planted again this year for great futures in STEAM’D fields, and it’s always exciting to talk with next gen designers!