Mariel Milo, Author at RAFT

At RAFT, we’re always exploring new ways to help educators bring hands-on STEAM learning into the classroom. With support from the Cisco Foundation, RAFT launched an AI-enabled chatbot designed to help teachers confidently implement STEAM lessons and provide more personalized learning support for students. This tool acts like a digital teaching assistant, helping educators adapt…

For over three decades, RAFT has been fortunate to be supported by partners who believe deeply in the power of hands-on learning. Among them is The Mark & Carolyn Guidry Foundation, longtime champions of education, creativity, and opportunity for all students. Founded in 1994, the Guidry Foundation was established by Mark and Carolyn Guidry to…

This August marks the exciting wrap-up of RAFT’s 2025 STEAM Dream Summer Camp and DreamBox season—our biggest yet! Over the course of eight action-packed weeks, we delivered more than 180 hours of hands-on STEAM programming, engaging TK–8 students from across the Bay Area in engineering challenges, storytelling adventures, and STEAM experimentation. With programs running across…

RAFT is proud to announce that our STEAM Dream Summer Camp has been awarded Gold in two categories in Bay Area Parent Magazine’s 2025 Best of the Best Awards: 🥇 Best Day Camp – Silicon Valley 🥇 Best Science & Technology Camp – Silicon Valley This exciting recognition reflects the strength and impact of RAFT’s…

RAFT kicked off July with a hands-on, minds-on celebration of innovation by partnering with Synaptics for their Bring Your Kids to Work Day at the company’s San Jose campus. Synaptics employees brought their children to learn more about what their parents do and how STEM and STEAM skills power the technology all around us. RAFT…

RAFT’s STEAM Dream Summer Camp is officially underway, and the first few weeks have already been packed with creativity, curiosity, and hands-on learning! We kicked off our 2025 summer programming on June 9 at Stratford – Crestmoor Canyon in San Bruno and launched additional sites the following week at Orchard School and Alum Rock School…

RAFT recently had the pleasure of participating in the San Diego STEAM Educators Conference at the University of San Diego from May 16–17. The event brought together hundreds of teachers from across the state committed to advancing STEAM education across Southern California. Nancy McIntyre, RAFT’s new Community Engagement Manager, represented our team at the conference,…

At RAFT, we believe in celebrating educators who bring STEAM to life through hands-on learning. Our STEAM Teachers and Administrators of the Year Awards honor those who go above and beyond—and sometimes, that recognition inspires something even bigger. Just ask Bryan Williams, a past STEAM Teacher of the Year award recipient who later nominated another…

Since the launch of RAFT’s Endowment Fund last year, generous donors have helped us expand access to hands-on STEAM education across the Bay Area. Through dedicating funding to our school and district partners, RAFT has been able to provide professional development training, memberships, and shopping credits for educators, empowering them to bring engaging, experiential learning…

Engaging EL and SPED Learners Through Hands-On STEAM For the past two summers, RAFT has partnered with Milpitas Unified School District to bring hands-on STEAM learning to the district’s Extended School Year (ESY) summer program. This past summer, 230 fourth- through sixth-grade Special Education (SPED) and English Learner (EL) students became environmental engineers—designing water filtration…