Joy has been hard to find for the past two years during the pandemic. As we transition back to the in-person classroom, educators are noticing students being unsure about being back as well as struggling emotionally and socially compared to previous years.

Now educators have to find a way to help these students not only stay engaged but build confidence. With your support, Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) can continue to provide affordable, STEAM learning resources in which to do so. 

RAFT has inspired joy through hands-on learning for over two decades. With our rich experience in affordable, STEAM hands-on learning resources, we know how to help educators and students re-engage, grow academically and emotionally, all the while making these resources accessible to help bridge the equity gap. 

What does joy in learning look like? It looks like all the students who participated in RAFT’s STEAM Engineering Design Challenges.

Tanya Dublin, a parent at Rancho Romero Elementary School, shared with RAFT that these challenges really helped her daughter Violet blossom: “ It was like watching her be a kid again… We got to connect and it gave us a reason to come together outside of technology”.

Joy was also found in RAFT’s visits to school campuses, like San Antonio Elementary School, to host Maker Mobile and Makerspace engagement events. Our Maker Mobile brings engaging, hands-on activities to students and meets them where they are both physically and academically.

Ivàn Rosales Montes, Principal at San Antonio Elementary School, shared the impact our events had on the students: “We were able to partner with RAFT to really create hands-on learning for our students which was magical”. 

RAFT’s engaging resources are what educators and families need to keep their students engaged, learning, and joyful. 

We need your continued support to make sure these resources are available and affordable for the educators, students, and schools that need them the most.

Help us bring joy back to the classroom by supporting RAFT and our hands-on, STEAM resources now:

  • $5,000 impacts an entire school and hundreds of students, bringing the RAFT Maker Mobile to a campus for an entire week
  • $2,500 provides materials for up to 50 students at a Title-1 school for a Maker Night 
  • $1,000 provides 5 scholarships for Title-1 students to attend RAFT Summer Program for a week 
  • $500 produces 4 Professional Development Workshops to serve up to 40 Educators
  • $250 provides 10 RAFT Memberships for Educators and Parents
  • $100 delivers STEAM Project Kits to 20 students  

Please go to raft.net/donate to make your donation today.

By supporting RAFT you are helping provide educators with STEAM learning resources to inspire the next generation of innovators, problem solvers, through joy in hands-on learning.