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NASA MAA: K1-12 STEM Education Project

The MUREP (Minority University Research and Education Project) Aerospace Academy made its debut at York College for the first time on October 17, 2015, and it replaced SEMAA (Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy) Program.

York College -hosted free in-person K1-12 STEM Program (summer 2023 Session) starts July 10 and ends on July 27, 2023 (Monday through Thursday, 9 am to noon).

The Deadline to submit the Summer 2023 application is June 30, 2023.

NASA Artemis-related STEM activities, robotics, rocketry, programming language and an introduction to Cybersecurity will be the summer highlights.

Over 30,000 Served Since 1999!

In 2019, York became one of the six new NASA STEM Education sites selected through a rigorous and open competition nationally. We are acknowledging NASA’s pivotal support along with corporate funding from the AT&T, Con Edison, and National Grid to bring quality STEM education opportunities to the greater York Community again.

The initial 3-year highly successful MAA Project @ York College ended in fall 2018 and served over 6000 students!

The goal of the current NASA MAA (Version 2.0) is to utilize NASA’s unique resources to build the interest, skills and knowledge necessary for K1-12 students to pursue STEM careers by engaging them in authentic STEM experiences built around NASA mission content and the NASA Communication Campaigns. The inaugural MAA 2.0 (July and mid-August 2019) and subsequent 2020 and 2021  virtual sessions engaged students in participatory activities, facilitated mentorships with professionals working in the STEM fields, funded a group of students to present their STEM research at the annual STEM convention (Geological Society of America), held in Phoenix, Arizona; and Portland, Oregon. MAA provided tools for parents and caregivers to encourage their children to pursue STEM activities and programs. Over 2000 K1-12 direct students and approximately 6000 outreach participants benefitted from the summer and fall 2021 STEM offerings via virtual platform.

The predecessor to the NASA MAA was the NASA Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Aerospace Academy, or SEMAA, which began in 1993, as a partnership between NASA Glenn Research Center and Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, Ohio. The York site was one of the oldest and has offered the SEMAA Program to the community since 1999. Through our previous SEMAA and current NASA MAA Program, we've served over 30,000 students since 1999. MAA conducted its vigorous outreach activities via hosting NASA MAA STEM events including Senator Leroy Comrie-hosted Family Resource Expo, CUNY Explorers - College Access for All Initiative, City Science Fair, Open houses, bringing Star lab to the community schools, Queens Public Libraries, Back to School Day, Summer Camp, 4-H Club, etc.

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Why NASA MAA?

Recognizing the need to increase the number of American youth who have an effective, authentic STEM experience each year prior to completing high school, and the need for NASA to do an internal consolidation, SEMAA was incorporated into MUREP, thus creating additional funding and learning opportunities to attract and retain underserved and underrepresented youth in grades K1-12. NASA MAA advances student development through activity components that are fully integrated to form a comprehensive support system. Through its components, MAA shall deliver:

  1. Curriculum Enhancement Activities (CEA), hands-on curriculum activities relevant to NASA missions and grade-specific core science contents,
  2. an Aerospace Education Laboratory (AEL), and
  3. an innovative Family Focus Group (Empowering families/caregivers with NASA STEM resources).

The MAA awards are already making impacts and enabling York to:

  • Increase the number of historically underserved and underrepresented students interested in NASA specific STEM careers.
  • Provide skills to parents/caregivers via Family Focus Group (FFG) to work with and encourage their children in STEM activities and programs. Parents are welcome to stay and participate in FFG-coordinated events every Saturday in AC3D01.
  • Involve community groups, business, industry, museums, educational and professional organizations through mentoring, field trips, guest speakers, and other MAA activities.

K1-12 Session Information

The MUREP Aerospace Academy (MAA) is running eight Saturdays only for 1st to 12th graders. Thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm of NASA MAA, Con Edison, AT&T, and National Grid, Asha Samuel* and Saya Samuel* (Precocious Entrepreneurs To Make Donation To York’s STEM Program For Children). Fall 2017 program participants emptied their savings and donated to the program, the York College NASA MAA program is resuming.

Session starts March 12 and ends on April 9, 2022

Please attend a mandatory orientation meeting.

*Please read about Asha and Saya (fall 2017 participants) donating their life savings to the program here. Our NASA MAA program offers engaging, hands-on, and fun science activities for children currently in 1st -12th grades. Catch the excitement and engage in STEM activities including Flight Simulation, Robotics, Drone, Coding, Engineering Design, Mindstorm EV3, Lego, Wind Tunnel, Star Gazing, GPS based weather tracking, space mathematics, Liquid Nitrogen ice cream making, Astronaut training, cool Chemistry experiments, NASA STEM education pipeline activities/internships, etc.

Peer mentoring for grades 9th-12th to prepare for competing in science fairs, attending STEM conferences, and giving research presentations in national STEM meetings. York MAA greatly acknowledges the generous support of Con Edison, AT&T, and National Grid, which enable the current MAA session to offer state-of-the-art STEM education to the greater York community again. Con Edison has been a steadfast financial supporter of the previous SEMAA Program since 2007 and continued providing strategic support to the newly introduced NASA MAA as well.

Call 718-262-2580 or 718-262-2079 anytime for more information.

Media Publicity

How did the NASA STEM Program trigger curiosity and keep Jadyn Worthington on track?

“Jadyn Worthington, now a senior majoring in computer science at University of Delaware, attended the York College-hosted NASA STEM Program at the age of 10 and acknowledged the impact the program had on him at a young age with great sincerity.”

York College NASA STEM program gives Queens youth critical technology skills, career opportunities

June 1, 2023

The York College NASA STEM Cybersecurity Program Powered by AT&T was designed to provide students who would not otherwise have access to digital literacy while opening the door to the possibilities in the rapidly growing industry of cybersecurity.

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York College NASA STEM Cybersecurity Program Powered by AT&T has Provided More than 185 Students with Digital Literacy Through an Introduction to Cybersecurity this semester

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