Yosan, 11, and Yafeit, 9, love math and science so they especially like that the Keystone’s Community Kids program provides homework help and supportive tutoring with a special focus on STEM—science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
While they both love the program’s field trips to museums, bowling alleys, swimming pools and other fun places, their favorite activity at the center is FIRST® LEGO League, which meets three afternoons a week. Part of a national STEM-learning program, FIRST® LEGO League challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers to solve problems.
Yosan and Yafeit are on the same robotics team, which did well in last year’s competitions. The students have to complete three specific missions during the competition. Yosan, who is proud to already be doing eighth-grade-level math, appreciated how the whole team worked together.
“You have to use your teamwork a lot for LEGO League, and we scored really high on teamwork because we worked together well and made each other laugh,” Yosan said.
Both kids credit the Community Kids’ teachers for helping them boost their skills in math and reading.
“The teachers have really helped me,” Yafeit says. “If you come here to Community Kids you’ll have good teachers, and if you feel like you don’t know anything, they’ll help you. But they don’t just tell you the answers, they help you figure things out yourself.”