Building Futures + JSMF Middle School STEAM Classes

Josh Seidel Memorial Foundation was introduced to Building Futures in 2022, it was a natural fit with shared visions to support youth with STEM educational programs.

Building Futures recognizes that young people are not getting the education necessary for their well-being and future success. Their purpose is to bring young people together to critically think, invent, and create sustainable solutions for their every day, real-world problems in order to lead better, healthier lives. Students work with constraints and possibilities of structure & materials, space & light, program & context, in a lateral-thinking, hands-on development process. Building Futures serves more than 16 St. Louis City schools, including an entire school district, with in-school and after-school programming for Kindergarten through 12th grade. They hope to increase high school graduation rates, scholarship offerings and inspire others to carry on the mission that through creative thinking and problem-solving anything is possible.

JSMF donated to support two middle school Building Futures classes for 8 weeks. Through a design/build, STEAM project-based learning approach- these students gain the tools necessary to build their life at full scale. All lesson plans, materials, and teaching staff are provided through Building Futures, and in these cases- funded by JSMF.

Check out this recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch https://bit.ly/3ZjifCh, highlighting students that completed a very successful week at a Building Futures workshop where they started and completed a made-for-water wooden rowboat. All photos from St. Louis Post Dispatch.