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The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [STEM] program at Asbury Park’s Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School [OLMCS] has been selected as a featured program by the United States Department of Education, according to a news release from the school.

Recognition comes through the 21st Century Community Leaning Center Virtual Showcase. A professional video crew will document the school’s after school program activities and the video will be featured on the state DOE website.

There are fifty-two community learning center programs funded through the state’s education department and 8,900 in the nation; OLMCS is one of just three selected for the Virtual Showcase, a remarkable achievement for the 18-month young program.

The program awards grants to inner-city and rural public schools to support the creation of community learning centers that provide academic enrichment during non-school hours, particularly for students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School is a nonpublic school with a 90-year history of serving low-income, primarily Haitian, Latino and African-American families in the Asbury Park area. Almost one hundred percent of student families qualify as low-income.

Known as the OLMC All Stars, the after school program serves 110 students in grades four through eight, five days a week, for three hours daily and provides programming for their adult family members.

“We are thrilled that our STEM program has been recognized by the Department of Education,” Sister Jude Catherine Boyce, S.S.J., principal at OLMCS, said in the release. “It is an honor our teachers and staff share, and a tribute to the faith and partnership extended to us by The Friendship Train Foundation.

The Friendship Train Foundation, a nonprofit organization working with motivated groups and individuals to support programs and services for communities that need help, provided initial funds and guidance for the enrichment program, and continues to be involved today.

Assessments show that STEM students gain confidence in their own abilities to learn and widen their choice of careers.

STEM program coordinators have also teamed up with local businesses to enrich the curriculum and provide more opportunities for students involvement in the community.

Once a week “Bike Squad” students are taken to Second Life Bikes, a nonprofit organization and bike shop located on Main Street in Asbury Park. There, students learn about the tools and techniques of bike repair, and about problem-solving skills and the teamwork required to put a broken bicycle back on the street.

Once a child has worked 15 hours in the shop, they earn a used bike to take home.

“When it comes to community-based projects and STEM programming,” says Connie Nathanson, Program Coordinator, “our experience with a local organization called Second Life Bikes has been a true marker of success.”

Other collaborators include the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, Liberty Science Center, Red Hot Community Publishing, and Molly Johnson, a local community artist and printmaker.

The video highlighting OLMCS’ STEM program will be posted in mid-June on the state’s You for Youth website.

[Photo at top provided by Christine Burke.]

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