The Academy runs on Rotarians who show up.
Four days of hands-on science for dozens of students takes volunteers on the floor, clubs putting names forward, and sponsors covering the cost. Here is every way to help, and what each one asks of you.
Volunteer at the Academy
Safety is the reason we need you.
Volunteers walk students to and from every session, and floor monitors are on duty through the night. It is the single largest reason the Academy can host students on a college campus at all.
Once you sign up, the Rotary District 7430 Youth Compliance Officer will contact you about Rotary Youth Protection Policy screening.
A side benefit worth naming: volunteers are welcome to sit in on the sessions themselves. If you attend multiple days, you watch students grow in confidence and start to believe they could actually do this for a living.
Where volunteers are needed
Registration
Check students in. Guide parents and students to parking, dorms and finding their rooms.
Escorting and engaging
Escort students to campus buildings. Engage with students as they problem-solve and build their habitat.
Floor monitoring
Monitoring the dormitory floor through the night. Overnight volunteers are assigned their own room.
Celebration dinner
Sunday, 3:00–8:00 PM — directing guests and sponsors, and setting up event decorations.
Gary Englehardt
A member of the Allentown West Rotary Club, Gary coordinates every volunteer at the Academy. Give your name and contact information to your local Club Rep or to Gary directly — or use the volunteer form. You will get a confirmation email, and you can edit your information later if anything changes.
Be your club’s representative
Every participating Rotary Club appoints one representative. The role is straightforward: be a cheerleader for STEM YEA, and connect the three groups that make a student’s seat possible.
Participating clubs and their representatives
Twenty-five clubs across District 7430 currently send students. If your club is listed, your representative is your first call — if it is not, that is the gap we would most like to close.
Sponsorship, the Rotary way
The lion’s share of funding for the Academy has come directly from Rotary District 7430, the Founder’s Clubs, and other club chapters. If you have a connection to a company that needs STEM-competent people — now or in ten years — that is a conversation worth having.
Corporate partnership
Six levels from $1,000 to $25,000, a full schedule of benefits, and a Pennsylvania tax credit worth up to 90% of the contribution.
Make a direct donation
Anyone can make a tax-free donation toward the Academy. Every gift goes to the cost of running the week — students never pay.
Donate nowThe Scholarship Fund
One post-secondary scholarship is awarded to a deserving student from each Academy class, on STEM achievement and financial need. It has its own page and its own form.
The Scholarship Fund →Change the trajectory of a young mind.
Anyone can make a direct, tax-free donation toward the Academy. Every gift goes to the cost of running the week — students and their families never pay a thing.
Proceeds go to the Allentown West Rotary Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, which administers all funds for STEM YEA.
Not sure which of these fits you?
Tell us what you have to offer and we will point you at the right person.
A four-day, three-night residential STEM academy for nominated 7th graders, funded by the Rotary Clubs of District 7430 and hosted at Kutztown University. Funds are administered by the Allentown West Rotary Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3).
