Applied Science Co-op – Indigenous Outreach Opportunity with UBC Geering Up
Description of Program
Eligible Indigenous co-op students (Metis, Inuit, and First Nations), with support from their co-op career advisor and Geering Up staff, can have the opportunity to participate in one week of paid Geering Up Community Outreach programming as part of their co-op placement. Over the span of the week, students will travel alongside Geering Up Instructors to a BC Indigenous Community. During this time they will deliver STEM programming to students in the community in the form of a summer camp. Students will have the opportunity to share their technical and work knowledge in addition to their personal experiences. A passion in STEM education outreach is an asset for this role.
Description of Organization
UBC Geering Up Engineering Outreach is dedicated to promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to all children and youth of British Columbia through fun, innovative, and hands-on educational programming. Our outreach to communities across BC emphasizes demographics underrepresented in STEM fields such as Indigenous youth, girls, and children from low-income neighborhoods. Indigenous youth have disproportionately low rates of graduation and post-secondary attendance, especially in STEM. By generating more interest in STEM topics, we hope to address this problem and create the next generation of individuals who will help grow their communities.
Geering Up’s Indigenous Outreach initiative (also referred to as InSTEM) collaborates with 24 Indigenous communities across BC to deliver year-round satellite programming. We bring in-class workshops, week-long camps, and Land Based Camps to these groups based on their needs and requests. These activities are offered for free or at highly discounted rates to the host communities. More information about Geering Up Community Outreach is available here.
If this is something that you might be interested in, reach out to your co-op career advisor for more information.