The center is expanding its educational reach by offering programming in science, technology, engineering and math — the field collectively known as STEM — amid news it has been declared a partner in the Portland-based Lerner Foundation’s $7 million Aspirations Incubator Program.
As part of the program, the center will take part in a comprehensive, mentoring-based pilot program to provide academic and social support to students from seventh grade through graduation, with hopes of expanding their post-secondary opportunities.
“That’s incredible for a small nonprofit,” said CBC Executive Director Bronwyn Barnett on Tuesday. “And for Biddeford, the real focus is kind of creating a better partnership with the school system. It’s exciting to have funding and a mechanism to connect that to the community.”
Barnett said the mentoring program will be based on the Lerner Foundation’s successful Trekkers Program, an outdoor-based mentoring program that works with 200 students from six communities in mid-coast Maine each year.
The CBC will, over the coming months, work to reproduce the successes of the Trekkers Program in Biddeford.
“We have a general concept but it will be kind of materialized and realized through the Trekkers Program,” Barnett said. “That’s a full immersion training experience. For nonprofits, training and professional development, those are things that are really hard to come by and pay for so the fact Lerner Foundation is providing this is great.”
The Lerner Foundation funding will also provide the CBC the opportunity for to develop a data-driven measurement tool for evaluating its programming outcomes through the Harvard Institutes.
“That is something we’ve always struggled with,” she said, noting that outcome measurement goes beyond counting the number of bikes repaired in a given time. “The actual social, emotional change we actually care about — that’s something we’ll be able to measure.”
Also unique about the partnership, Barnett said, is that the CBC will have the opportunity to work with the seven other partner organizations within the AIP network. That, she said, will provide opportunities for the center to learn about what other organizations like it are doing.
“To be connected to such a network of high quality programs is going to be really beneficial to all of us,” Barnett said.
The other AIP partner organizations include Chewonki in Wiscasset; Kieve-Wavus Education in Lincoln County; Old Town-Orono YMCA in Old Town; Seeds of Independence in Brunswick; The EdGE program of Maine Seacoast Mission in Washington County; The Game Loft in Waldo County; and the University of Maine 4-H Center at Bryant Pond in Oxford County.
But the AIP isn’t all those at the CBC are riding high about.
In the next couple weeks, the first cohort of STEM Bike Monkeys are expected to graduate.
You read that right — the STEM Bike Monkeys, a group of seven teens, ages 13 to 17, have been meeting every Wednesday evening since March 8, learning STEM concepts using bikes as a tool for program delivery.
“They go through each system of a bike … completely disassembling and reassembling a bike and being supported by a mentor. It’s definitely more structured like school, and at the end of it they graduate,” Barnett said.
The program is an adapted model of the center’s popular Bike Monkey program, but focuses more on adding an educational component to typical bicycle repair in a one-on-one setting.
“We’ve adapted it specifically to teaching STEM concepts and we are working with volunteers who are immersed with stem backgrounds, professionals in the field, and we are trying to align our program to meet the STEM and academic needs of kids,” Barnett said.
For some of the kids who come in, she said, the program has been transformative.
“CBC is in a really unique position. We have direct access to hundreds of kids who are struggling in other areas of their life other than academics,” she said “These kids … may not be doing so well in school, but they come in and they’re completely interested in the engineering, the science or math of a bicycle.”
She said those components have always been integrated into the CBC’s programming, but now the center is focusing on strengthening the link between academics and physical work.
Steven Thurlow, 14, who was repairing bikes at the center on Wednesday, said he’s learned more about engineering in the few times he’s attended the CBC’s STEM Bike Monkey nights than he has in school.
“It’s definitely more formal than what I’ve had (in school). It’s more unique than elsewhere,” he said.
Program Director Andrew Burrell said Wednesday inspiration for the STEM Bike Monkeys program came from Biddeford Middle School’s recent implementation of a STEM Academy.
“We just wanted to try to tap into the whole STEM idea, and bikes are the perfect tool to incorporate STEM concepts,” he said. “The concepts are so far out, but eventually they’ll catch up to them. They may not be able to completely understand it, but at least it’s a starting point.”
“It’s really fun for us,” Barnett said.
Of course, with every new initiative comes both joy and room for improvement. Barnett said she is excited to see the center take on its new roles in the community and will work to continually improve itself moving forward.
“I’m incredibly grateful and humbled to be connected to such high quality programs, the school system in Biddeford and funders, and that’s really motivating us to improve the scope and quality of our work,” she said. “We provide a great service to the community, but that being said I know we can always do better. I’m excited about the possibilities.”
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.
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