RAFT Blog, News, and Events

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…

DreamBox Impact Series: Oak Grove School District

February 27, 2025

Empowering Newcomers Through Hands-On STEAM Learning In Summer 2024, students at Oak Grove School District‘s Newcomer Summer Academy embarked on an innovative hands-on STEAM adventure. Through RAFT’s creative reuse materials and engaging activity kits, 75 students explored the mysteries of space while strengthening their English language skills, guided by 3 dedicated teachers. Hands-on learning is…

RAFT Prepares for Pi Day Event on March 5th

Mar 3, 2016 | Comments Off

RAFT San Jose gets its teachers in gear for International Pi Day. Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) the San Jose-based nonprofit organization committed to hands-on learning, will host a Pi Day event on March 5th in honor of International Pi Day on March 14th.…

Juggling the Work/Life Balance

Feb 25, 2016 |

By Michael Rosenberg, Teacher, Stratford School There are few professions outside of teaching that can empathize with the struggle of being an educator. As a teacher, our days in the classroom can be a physical and mental roller coaster. Then at day’s end, stacks…

RAFT Idea Sheets Link Math and Culture – Making Student Engagement Come Alive

Feb 23, 2016 | Comments Off

New RAFT Idea Sheets explore geometric models, helping students explore math concepts and their relation to culture. February 23, 2016 – Since 1994, central to RAFT’s (Resource Area for Teaching) mission is its belief that hands-on teaching builds and reinforces a deeper level of…

RAFT Launches Controlled Flight Design Challenge

Feb 9, 2016 | Comments Off

Kit for educators helps students solve real-world flight problems using hands-on learning. San Jose, California, February 9, 2016 – Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) has launched a new tool for educators that puts students in the flight engineer’s seat. The Controlled Flight Design Challenge is…

RAFT Hires Director of Learning

Jan 26, 2016 | Comments Off

Resource Area for Teaching hires award winning educator Jason Pittman Jason Pittman is Resource Area for Teaching’s (RAFT) new Director of Learning. As a key member of the RAFT leadership team, the Director of Learning position embodies RAFT’s passion for hands-on learning and models…

Closing the Content Knowledge Gap

Jan 19, 2016 |

By Elisha Burns, RAFT Fellow Let me be one of the first to say there is an elephant in the room of education and it is called content knowledge. As a teacher that has spent a few years teaching I can honestly say that…