ERC: Hola, Roberto. You’re a super busy guy. Thanks for making time for us. Can we begin by having you tell me a little about the need, the ideas, the why behind STEAM Box Rhode Island?

Roberto: Of course. I think first, it's covering a deficit. Our youth, our particular youth, are from the urban core of Rhode Island. Particularly for girls in the sciences, there has been a huge gap. So for example, 57% of college graduates last year are girls. And I think 23 or 24% of incoming science jobs and technology jobs, were going to women. There's a huge discrepancy there.

There's more women coming out of college and ready to join the workforce, but there's fewer women getting the jobs in science and technology. And that's exponential when you add to it the BIPOC students, the students of color. So I wanted to address those particular needs, and I wanted to do it through the skillsets and the things that I know. I am good at recruiting students, and I'm good at retaining students. And the reason is because I let them have voice and locus of control over their work.

So if I'm combining those two things, and we're putting a science lens on it, creating people who are ready to go and take those science jobs back tomorrow.

ERC: Why do you think that you get such good results with young people? Not to put words in your mouth, but are you representing something in your work that's different from what the school system is representing?

Roberto:: Yeah. Yeah. What I found is, the closer I work with the schools, the more I have to adhere to those antiquated systems. So the more distance that I can put between me and the schools, unfortunately, that's where I have to meet the students. That's where the students are. That's where they congregate. That's where they have to go. But the more distance that I can put between me and the schools, philosophically, me and public schools, philosophically, is the more opportunity for growth, and there's more opportunity to listen to students' needs and listen to students, look at students' pathways towards their careers and see their trajectory and where they're going to end up, and what they need to do to get there. So distancing myself from the school philosophies allows opportunities for growth in ways that schools don't.

ERC-What are the needs you see for young people at present, especially with COVID?

Roberto- The mental state right now of my students is worse than I’ve ever seen it. It became apparent to me, as soon as this started, that we had to shift our STEAM work, and we did. I would say 75% of our capacity has moved from STEAM topics and skills to supporting emotional well-being. We're doing movie nights, we're doing game nights, we're hooking up with students online, we're having them meet their mentors on line, as well as celebrities and some of their favorite music artists. We’re trying to support them and connect them to the appropriate resources at the same time, because right now, some people are isolated. Other people may have the opposite problem, where they're not isolated, but they're in a stressful home situation, more or less trapped. So, as far as mental wellness goes, I would say, its bad right now.

Another important and related issue is the nature of school itself. Last week on our STEAM Box podcast we had two amazing guests, who are wellness specialists. They were amazing guests about the need for social emotional support for young people in school. And what some of the stressors and pressures are. Our students talked about the need for connections, for taking care of each other, But interestingly, our students –unanimously-- agreed while talking with them on the podcast that they believe that schoolwork and testing harms them, actually interferes with their emotional and mental wellbeing.

Now that's a big deal. When can you get all of the students to agree on anything? I've got a student for example who’s very conservative in his political beliefs. But in this case, he’s 100% in agreement that the feel fo school is negative. It's weird to me, because in every group, you're going to find somebody who disagrees with something, but every student unanimously agreed that the amount of testing that they have in schools in general harms them mentally and emotionally. I want to point out that especially now, we've got to consider the ramifications of the emotional impact that “school” is having on these students, in the long term.

ERC: How has your thinking about the STEAM Box mission been evolving?

Roberto: Yes. Yes. I’ve been thinking so much about where do we really want to go? When I started STEAM Box, to your question, I felt like a lot of burden was on me. To do so much of the preparing, the guiding ideas, asking the questions, making it just right for students. I felt like that ‘the buck stops here” thing. And I felt like all of that responsibility was on me to focus on and clarify the mission. And I've learned over the years that that's not true. And I’ve been candid that if we really want to change and evolve schools, the students need equal power – equal to the school district, and the state, and teacher's union. I'm telling you that the same thing has to be true for STEAM Box. STEAM Box needs to have its mission developed by its students, and its direction established by its students.

And to be fair to myself, it’s getting there. We have been doing that. And I know you've seen instances that the students really run the show and drive the bus at STEAM Box. I’m excited for the students to retool the entire mission, and the way we do business. And I think that I can start to take some of that burden off of myself because the students are really doing such a good job with that.

ERC: You’ve received a number of awards, and some great media attention. Does STEAM Box have adequate resources to continue with your mission?

Roberto: We’ll certainly continue with our mission, no doubt. But its always super hard to obtain the level of on-going support we’d like, let alone to expand our services. Its always a challenge to have to choose among a number of vital things, so especially now with COVID we’re looking for new friends, new allies, and new supporters.

ERC: Here’s wishing for you to be able to continue the amazing work you do in Rhode Island, and thanks for your time, Roberto.