S.T.E.M. Academic Tutoring Cohorts

In order for our students to be prepared to compete in a global economy, they need to develop strong soft, technical, and academic skills. A sustained science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning  and tutoring program sharpens their soft skills such as managing time, working as a team, setting goals, making effective presentations, problem solving, logical thinking and analysis. The aforementioned skills, when put into practice on a consistent basis, become continuous skills that are interwoven into each student’s academic and moral fabric. The end result is a high school graduate who is achieving at a high level academically and is ready to compete in the global marketplace and/or enroll into a college or university.

To address the statements above, STEMERALD City is pleased to offer four STEM academic tutoring cohorts.

Kainotomia – The Greek word for “Innovation”.

The Kainotomia primary cohort is an elite STEM learning cohort designed for grades 3 – 5.  These sessions will improve logical thinking, inferencing skills, understanding of the number line, decimal placement, and fractions. As a result, cohort members perform better in the classroom and standardized test.  This cohort currently meets on the third Saturday of each month from  9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m..

The Kainotomia middle school cohort is an elite STEM learning cohort designed for  grades 6 – 8. A customized implementation plan at these grade levels will increase proficiency in middle school math, Algebra I, and prepare each student for early college enrollment. This approach accelerates completion of college certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees that lead to college transfer or provide entry-level job skills. This cohort currently meets on the 2nd Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m..

The Kainotomia high school cohort is an elite STEM learning cohort designed for grades 9 – 12. A customized implementation plan at these grade levels will ensure that our students academically qualify to enroll in an early college high schools or dual enroll during their junior and senior years. This approach accelerates completion of college certificates, diplomas, and associate degrees that lead to college transfer or provide entry-level job skills. This cohort currently meets on the 1st Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m..

The benefits of our cohorts are:

Student-Centered
Our tutoring cohorts are designed to focus on the needs of the student because the environment is a shared learning experience. Each member of the cohort is seen as the teacher and learner, actively participates in discussions and learning activities, and encouraged to support everyone’s contributions to the group.

Builds Strong Bonds
Over the course of their membership our students spend a considerable amount of time together in small participatory group discussions. They can develop deep friendships and family-like bonds with other members of the group because of the in-depth conversations and learning experiences the cohort has shared with each other.

Academic Network
The relationships our students build can result in a network, which extends beyond the classroom, and can significantly empower their career development and academic advancement.

Efficient Administration
Since our tutoring cohorts contain the same students every grading period/semester, they are predictable. Your child benefits because they do not have to enroll in courses offered by STEMERALD City because they are included with their membership. It also helps parents stabilize supplemental learning expenditures.

STEMERALD City’s tutoring approach is unique because we not only align academic learning objectives with STEM activities, we also match each student’s discrete skills (music, athletics, art, etc.) with STEM activities which further enables them to internalize the learning objectives. For example, athletes are natural spatial thinkers. Therefore, 3D modeling is a perfect platform to assist them with visualizing a learning objective.

Our tutoring cohorts meet one Saturday a month for 4 hours. During the session, the students are exposed to emerging technologies such as coding, 3D modeling/printing/scanning, drones/robotics, and electronics. Activities such as art, research, and chess are also incorporated to strengthen soft skills. Sessions will also include guest speakers who will articulate how the skills they are learning are utilized in the real world. With regard to academics, many of the sessions are focused on learning standards set by The N.C. Department of Instruction to ensure our students are achieving at a high level on end of course exams. Finally, students are assigned projects between sessions to extend learning beyond our classroom.