Intel Volunteers, Middle School Students Build Connections
BEF NEWS
Intel Volunteers, Middle School Students Build Connections
Friday, May 3rd, 2024
A new BEF and Intel volunteer project offers Intel employees the opportunity to work with 8th grade students in real-time design and problem solving activities at three Beaverton middle schools.
Intel employees are joining Future Lab classes at Mountain View, Stoller and Tumwater to engage with students in a hands-on project from start to finish. The students are using RFID, or radio-frequency identification devices, for the project. RFID provides a good entry into preparing for more advanced work in high school and thinking like an engineer.
This project means the same volunteers will be in the same schools each week in April and May. This gives students an opportunity to develop real connections with the volunteers.
“Being able to partner with Intel volunteers who have become experts in their field is incredibly exciting,” shared Tumwater MS teacher Benjamin Lloyd. “These volunteers have shown a pathway from school to work. It helps bridge the gap between what kids are learning now as middle school students and where they might see themselves in a few, very short years.”
On the first Friday, Mountain View’s 8th grade students were greeted by three Intel employees who were students not so long ago. In fact, two of the three are graduates of Beaverton and Sunset High Schools! The employees shared about the kind of work they do and how they got from high school to Intel.
Students and volunteers then kicked off the design cycle using RFID to solve a problem. This cycle includes conducting an inquiry and analysis, developing ideas, creating a solution and evaluating the designs.
Thanks to partners like Intel, BEF mobilizes community contributions to bring STEAM–science, technology, engineering, arts and math–into classrooms and into after school and summer academic enrichment programming. BEF’s STEAM 4 ALL Initiative engages students to think critically across multiple subjects, provides hands-on, valuable and real-world experiences and connects student learning to career opportunities.
BEF is grateful for this opportunity with our long-time partner, Intel. Just as individual STEAM subjects are important on their own, when integrated become more powerful, by connecting volunteers to students, Intel and BEF are even more powerful together.
