Learn with the Expert: Personally Relevant STEAM Instruction with Real-World Impact with Jacob Adams

Jacob Adams is the Executive Director of STEM to the Future, a non-profit focused on inspiring and motivating Black and Latinx youth to use STEAM to create the world they want and deserve. Jacob is a Black male educator and Founder, has over 10+ year career in education where he was a Teach For America corps member, an elementary school teacher at a Blue Ribbon School in Brownsville, Brooklyn, an elementary school teacher at an emerging school in Harlem, an instructional coach throughout Los Angeles, and an entrepreneur serving thousands of Black and Latinx youth and educators in LA County. In 2017, he founded STEM to the Future, and has developed an organization that is rooted in the liberatory tradition of revolutionaries including bell hooks, Paulo Friere, and Gholdy Mohammed. STTF’s approach to the work centers and is informed by the voices of Black and Latinx elementary and middle school youth. Unlike the majority of STEAM/STEM programs STTF centers social justice and helps students use STEAM to address unmet needs in their communities. Jacob and his team have developed a one of a kind pedagogy that combines hands-on STEAM skills and leadership development through the lens of social justice and activism to support students as they identify and develop solutions to real world problems in their community such as climate change, public safety, and health inequities. For example, girls in their robotics program used robots to deliver PPE to elders during the height of the pandemic and the youth in their creative design program created and sold clothes and art to raise awareness and funds for the LGBTQ community. STTF serves over 1,600 weekly in Los Angeles and they train over 65 educators who support over 350 youth over the course of the school year.

Mia Leonard taught Kindergarten in the Chicago Public Schools for 10 years. Mia is a Google Certified Innovator, PBS Digital Innovator, and Seesaw Certified Educator. In the classroom, Mia explored innovative methods to transform teaching and learning and empower her students daily. Mia currently works at Seesaw Learning as a Professional Development and Training Specialist. Mia is the author of Building Blocks for Tiny Techies: A Teacher's Guide to Digital Learning in Primary Classrooms. She also speaks regularly on how to amplify the voices of our littlest learners through technology at conferences and events across the country.