RAFT Blog, News, and Events

RAFT’s AI Chatbot: A Smarter Way to Support Hands-On Learning

March 4, 2026

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…

A Legacy of Learning: The Guidry Foundation and RAFT’s Endowment Fund

January 26, 2026

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…

Annual Fundraiser Recap: RAFT to the Future of STEAM Education

September 25, 2025

On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, RAFT hosted its annual fundraising event: RAFT to the Future. Over 130 supporters were present at RAFT, which was transformed into a beautiful space for the special event for the night. That evening, we honored the individuals and organizations that have made a profound impact on RAFT and the education…

STEAM Dream Summer Camp 2025: A Season of Innovation, Discovery, and Fun

August 19, 2025

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 Redwood City is Closing—Major Sale!

Jun 26, 2019 | Comments Off

This week is the last chance to visit our Redwood City location. Please note die-cutting and laminating will not be available this week as we prepare for the move. We are holding an inventory liquidation sale running through Saturday, June 29th (during our normal operating…

Free Trial Memberships!

May 3, 2019 |

To celebrate RAFT’s 25th Anniversary, we are featuring some amazing specials to support our educators! All current members are receiving a free, automatic 4-month extension on their current memberships. Thank you for your membership!We will also feature a FREE Trial Membership window from May…

A Message from Nigel Ball, RAFT Interim CEO

Mar 29, 2019 |

Dear RAFT Community: As you may know, RAFT has recently appointed me to lead this great charitable organization as Interim CEO. I’m thrilled to be able to contribute to fulfill RAFTs mission of helping educators to transform a child’s learning experience through hands-on education…

Leadership Change Announcement

Mar 27, 2019 |

March 27, 2019 — The Board of Directors of Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT) today announced RAFT’s CEO, Sarah Slavin, has left RAFT. Since joining RAFT in December 2017, Sarah has led RAFT in fulfilling its mission of helping educators to transform a child’s…

Holiday Shutdown – December 25th – January 1st

Dec 27, 2018 |

RAFT will be observing the following hours for our Holiday Break. RAFT San Jose: RAFT San Jose will be closed beginning Tuesday, December 24 and will re-open Wednesday, January 2nd. RAFT Redwood City: RAFT Redwood City will be closed beginning Friday, December 21 and will re-open Wednesday, January 9th. Happy…

Redwood City Store Closed – Saturday, December 15

Dec 15, 2018 |

RAFT has been informed by our partners at the San Mateo County Office of Education there will be an unexpected closure of the building for construction purposes on Saturday 12/15. Therefore,our Redwood City Retail Store at 101 Twin Dolphin Drive will be closed this Saturday 12/15. RAFT Redwood…