RAFT Blog, News, and Events

Bringing Hands-On STEAM Learning to San Diego Educators

May 18, 2025

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,…

From Honoree to Advocate: A STEAM Award’s Ripple Effect

May 14, 2025

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…

DreamBox Impact Series: Milpitas Unified School District

April 1, 2025

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…

Bringing Stories to Life: RAFT’s Intersession Program at Northwood Elementary

March 18, 2025

This winter, Northwood Elementary students in Berryessa School District embarked on a creative journey through RAFT’s three-day Intersession program. Designed to spark imagination and hands-on learning, the program engaged 66 students in grades K-5 in the art of puppet-making, storytelling, and performance, culminating in a special showcase for families. Student-made marionette puppets displayed with crafting…

RAFT Earns Coveted 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator

Jul 7, 2016 | Comments Off

Receiving four out of a possible four stars means RAFT supporters can be assured that their organization is worthy of trust and commitment. Resource Area for Teaching’s (RAFT) strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency, has once again earned a 4-star…

Putting the E in STEAM

Jun 30, 2016 |

By Amanda Amburgey M.A, Maker Science Teacher, Bulldog Tech What is going on in this classroom? There are kids everywhere excitedly making, testing, remaking, retesting, hot gluing, hammering, there is so much duct tape! This is what engineering looks like in a middle school…

RAFT Helps Educators Prevent Summer Learning Loss with Over 700 Idea Sheets

Jun 29, 2016 | Comments Off

RAFT provides educators with engaging and affordable learning activities for summer. On average, students lose two months of academic skills over the summer, and studies show that teachers spend large amounts of time re-teaching material once students go back to school. To curb this…

Geometry Comes Alive with Cultural Explorations

Jun 22, 2016 |

By Jeanne Lazzarini, RAFT Math Educator/R&D Specialist – Published in CMC ComMuniCator, Volume 40, Number 4

RAFT Celebrates National Week of Making (June 17-23)

Jun 21, 2016 | Comments Off

In 2015, President Barack Obama proclaimed the National Week of Making to help fortify a country of makers inspired to pursue their passions of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). This year, Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) supports the National Week of Making by…

Assistive Technology for all Learners

Jun 15, 2016 |

By Courtney Hunter, Resource Specialist Three percent of students in every classroom need some accommodations or assistance to achieve proficiency in academic subject areas. Not only are students not getting accommodations, many aren’t making significant progress either. Using minor technology devices in the classroom…