From Kickoff to Handoff: Coaching Teens to Tackle STEM Literacy

This article discusses how intensive, content-rich, multiple-day conferences for teams of youth and their adult coaches can be used to initiate the training and planning needed for teens to successfully serve as STEM teachers. The concepts are based on three 4-H teens as teachers projects that included 29-36.5 hour initial training conferences. Teenagers (173) completed pre/post surveys on STEM knowledge, skills, careers, resources, and teaching ability. The teenagers exhibited increases in these areas for all three conferences. The authors discuss the common elements of these conferences, provide implementation examples and suggest resources that support this type of training