STEM Greenhouse

06/09/2026

The doors opened Monday morning and our students walked in like they already belonged.

Because they do!

Day 1 of Sankofa STEM Academy 2026 had our high schoolers sitting in college lecture halls, building from scratch, solving problems at the whiteboard, and breaking bread together.

It is definitely going to be a memorable summer.

Follow along this week. You are not going to want to miss what happens next.

05/01/2026

Access to a five-week STEM experience can change how a student shows up in math and science.

Thanks to MSU Federal Credit Union and their CU Bold Affinity Group, more students will step into Sankofa STEM Academy this summer. They’ll spend five weeks solving real problems, building skills, and seeing what they’re capable of when the work is consistent.

This support means more seats filled, more time with mentors, and more measurable growth in math.

Know a student who should be in the room this summer? Sign up here: https://forms.gle/FBy2K5GX7RtdiWQf9

04/10/2026

Summer is coming, and so is five weeks that can shift how students approach math and science.

Applications for Sankofa STEM Academy are now open: https://forms.gle/NEb2BcEr6hDknfzY9

Inside Sankofa STEM Academy, students work through real problems, test ideas, and are exposed to what life on a college campus is like.

Our scholars are building skills that carry into the school year and beyond. And they’re doing it in a space that treats them like they belong in STEM, because they do.

03/20/2026

We talk a lot about the STEM talent pipeline.
But pipelines don't build themselves.

They start in classrooms with real hands-on experiences that foster curiosity and build skills.
Unfortunately, schools do not always have the resources to provide those experiences.

That’s where our in-school programming comes in.

Because of partners like the Bosch Community Fund, we can bring hands-on science learning directly into schools and work alongside teachers.

Through engineering projects, like windmill construction, our students explore how design and problem-solving work together. They test how blades move, how wind creates power, and how different decisions affect performance.

We are so grateful to the Bosch Community Fund for investing in learning and making science tangible and exciting for our students.

03/18/2026

We're honored to receive West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology - WMCAT's Award for Innovation 2026.

But this recognition belongs to more than just our team.

Our community built this. We just get to hold the award, and we don't take that lightly.

Here's to our village.

Watch:

The WMCAT Award for Innovation was presented to STEM Greenhouse for addressing educational inequities and creating new pathways for students to succeed in sc...

03/17/2026

What makes good math?

Most people think every math problem has one correct answer.

But eighth graders at Riverside Middle School saw something different last week.

In the days leading up to Pi Day, students worked through six open-ended problems. By Friday, their work filled the walls.

The same question appeared solved in completely different ways.

Some answers were right. Some were not. What mattered was the thinking behind them.

02/18/2026

Can you imagine the first time Americans stepped outside just to watch a satellite move across the sky?

Today, thousands orbit overhead. But one of the first easily visible to the public followed Melba Roy Mouton’s math.

In 1960, Melba worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she led a team of mathematicians who tracked Echo’s orbit. Their calculations produced the schedules that engineers relied on and newspapers printed so families would know exactly when to look up (1).

Those schedules only worked if the numbers were right.

Accuracy like that isn’t luck or pure talent. It’s a skill developed through good teachers and steady practice.

And not every student has access to that kind of teacher.

In 2024, only about 18 out of 100 Black, 4th-graders nationwide were on track in math. By eighth grade, that drops to about 9 out of 100 (2).

Melba Roy Mouton’s brilliance was never rare. The opportunity to develop it consistently has been.

Brilliance was never missing. Access was.
That is why we carry the work forward.

(1) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Biography of Melba Roy Mouton.
(2) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Mathematics Assessment.

02/11/2026

Today, on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, here’s the part Hidden Figures didn’t show you.

Annie Easley wasn’t in the movie. She didn’t work at NASA Langley like the women portrayed on screen, but she was very much part of the world it captured.

Before “computer” meant a machine, it was a job title. Annie Easley was one of them. A Black woman mathematician and computer scientist, she worked at NASA from the 1950s through the 1980s, writing code that supported rocket systems, satellite energy models, and early work on alternative energy. It was the same era as the women highlighted in Hidden Figures, a time when Black women were essential to progress and routinely erased from credit.

Annie Easley didn’t succeed because she was some kind of exception. She succeeded because she had access to math early enough to keep adapting as the work changed.

Even today, the results of unequal access show up early.

In 2024, only about 18 percent of Black fourth graders nationwide scored at or above proficient in math. Meanwhile, 45 percent of White fourth graders did (1).

By middle school, the gap expands. In 2024, fewer than 1 in 10 Black eighth graders nationwide scored at or above proficient in math, compared with about 4 in 10 White eighth graders (1). Eighth grade is when algebra shows up, and algebra decides who gets encouraged to stay in advanced math and science, and who quietly gets pushed off the path.

Annie Easley stayed on that path because she had the foundation to do so. Too many students never get that chance.

Fast forward again, and the pattern is still there. In 2023, Black students earned only about 2 out of every 100 doctoral degrees in math and statistics (2).

This is why STEM Greenhouse stays focused on foundational math and science. Not as test prep. Not as enrichment. As skills for life and work.

That is how we carry the work forward.

1) National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Mathematics Assessment.
2) National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Earned Doctorates 2023

02/10/2026

Historical Truths, Present Realities: Valerie Thomas

In the 1970s, Dr. Valerie L. Thomas worked as a physicist at NASA (1). She invented the illusion transmitter, a device that used light and mirrors to create three-dimensional images, and patented it in 1980, (2) at a time when very few Black women were recognized as inventors, especially in federal science spaces.

Her invention helped change how images are visualized, from satellites in space to tools used in science and medicine today.

That kind of problem-solving starts with math and science.

It’s not just about numbers. It’s about learning how to think through a problem, test an idea, and trust your own reasoning. That’s what makes invention possible.

And, that’s why we focus on helping our students build a strong foundation in math and science.

Fast forward to today.

A 2022 study found that from 1970–2006, Black inventors were granted 6 patents per million people, compared to 235 per million overall (3). This means that over 36 years, Black inventors were credited on patents at less than 3% of the overall U.S. rate.

That gap isn’t about talent or effort. It’s about systems and access.
That is why we carry the work forward.

1) Nasa.gov
2) U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
3) Congressional Research Service, 2022, IF12259.2

02/02/2026

You might not know Dr. Charles Drew, but his work has likely touched your life.

In 1941, Dr. Charles Drew transformed medicine by creating the first modern blood bank, changing how blood was preserved and shared worldwide. His work saved lives on a massive scale. When the American Red Cross insisted on segregating blood by race, he refused to let science bow to bias and resigned (1).

In the U.S., cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, and stroke, affect about 60% of Black adults, a significantly higher burden than White adults (2). These conditions often require surgery, transfusions, and long-term medical care.

Yet Black Americans, who make up about 13% of the population, represent only about 5% of American Red Cross blood donors (3).

These gaps align with documented inequities in healthcare access, community outreach, and education investment, shaping who is informed, recruited, and able to participate in systems like blood donation.

Despite Dr. Drew’s lifesaving contributions, the systems he helped build still do not fully serve the communities most impacted. Addressing that gap starts early, with access to foundational math and science skills that help students understand and engage with health and biology.

That is the work STEM Greenhouse carries forward today.

Citations:
1) Britannica
2) Redcross.org
The context matters because, despite Dr. Drew’s lifesaving contributions, the systems he helped build still do not fully serve the communities most impacted. Addressing that gap starts early, with access to foundational math and science skills that help students understand and engage with health and biology.