Your next engineer is in eighth grade.
A STEM career decision gets made long before anyone applies for the job.
Research on career formation is consistent on one point: students form their sense of whether science and engineering are “for them” in middle school — years before a single course selection, internship, or job application. Eastern Pennsylvania’s manufacturers, health systems and technology employers are competing for a STEM workforce that is being decided right now, in eighth grade classrooms across five counties.
What the Academy is
A four-day, three-night residential program at Kutztown University for rising eighth graders — selected and sponsored by Rotary clubs specifically because they would not otherwise have access to an experience like this.
Students work in university laboratories, in the planetarium and at the observatory. In 2026 they designed and built habitats for human life on Mars, then presented them to their families at a celebration dinner. They also completed CPR, Stop the Bleed and bicycle safety training.
They go home with a certificate, a class photograph, a lab coat — and a different idea of what they might become.
“I learned how to collaborate and share ideas. If my friends asked me about STEM YEA, I would say YES!!!”
Out of a 2019 presentation to the Allentown Rotary Club, built by an all-volunteer district committee.
45 Rotary clubs in District 7430, part of a global network of 1.4 million members.
Two returns on a single commitment.
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Kutztown University contributes laboratories, the planetarium, the observatory, dormitories and dining. The program is delivered by Rotarian volunteers. Corporate dollars go to students, not overhead.
$500 covers a student’s full four days — instruction, materials, housing, meals and campus access.
Choose the level that fits.
Every level can be structured as a two-year commitment, which lets us plan the Academy with confidence. In-kind contributions of equipment, transportation, meals, printing or professional services are recognized at their cash-equivalent level.
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Not seeing your fit?
These levels are a starting point, not a menu. If your priority is employee engagement, recruiting visibility, ESG reporting content or a specific curriculum area, tell us and we will build the package around it. Several of our strongest partnerships began as a conversation about something not listed here.
The full schedule of benefits.
Logo placement is the least valuable thing we offer. The reason partners renew is the afternoon their engineer spends explaining what she actually does for a living to a room of thirteen-year-olds — and what that does for the people who work for you.
Within 60 days of the Academy every partner receives a written accounting of each benefit delivered, with photography, student counts, participating districts and quotes you are free to use in your own communications.
Who already supports the Academy.
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Sixty-four students went last summer. Help us decide how many go next.
Commitments for the 2027 Academy are being confirmed now. Corporate giving and marketing budgets for the coming year are typically set between September and November — if the Academy is going to be in yours, this is the season to talk.
[Direct phone]
www.stemyea.com
STEM Youth Explorer Academy is a program of Rotary District 7430, serving 45 clubs across Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery and Northampton counties. [Insert receiving entity’s legal name, 501(c)(3) status and EIN.]