RAFT Blog, News, and Events

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 Wins Double Gold in Bay Area Parent’s 2025 Best of the Best Awards!

July 29, 2025

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…

STEAM in Action: RAFT Joins Synaptics for Bring Your Kids to Work Day

July 25, 2025

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…

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,…

One Person’s Junk is a Teacher’s Treasure

Apr 14, 2016 |

By Elisha Burns, RAFT Fellow This is the time of the year when I think of all the things that I am thankful for having in my life. Materials found at RAFT With all of the extra expenses that come with a teaching career…

RAFT Celebrates Our Youngest Learners®

Apr 5, 2016 | Comments Off

Resource Area for Teaching celebrates National Week of the Young Child April 5, 2016 – As part of the national Week of the Young Child™ (April 10-16, 2016) celebrated across the country, Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) locations in California and Colorado are honoring young children and…

The Importance of Play in the Classroom

Mar 31, 2016 |

By Rita Mercado, First Grade Teacher, Serendipity School I have taught first grade for the last 12 years, and it seems like every year I get questions about what we do during our “Choice Time.” The number one thing that my students learn how…

RAFT Kits Help Make STEM Learning Accessible in South Sudan

Mar 29, 2016 | Comments Off

In a country ravaged by war, floods, and famines, Loreto Primary School in South Sudan takes a stand for education using RAFT hands-on learning kits. In a country where half of its people live below the poverty line and onechild in three is stunted…

RAFT Presents Award at San Mateo County STEM Fair

Mar 22, 2016 |

On March 29th, the SMCOE STEM fair was held at the Hiller Aviation Museum. Every year, RAFT is allowed to pick a special winner who has demonstrated an exceptional skills in science. The RAFT special award winner this year is Maya Ellis, a fifth…

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.…